The World's Biggest YouTuber is sponsoring an NBA Team 🏀🍫
Plus Michael Jordan breaks another record and Barcelona star is excluded from new EA game.
Welcome to Athletic Interest,
What surprised us most this week was hearing that Youtuber Mr. Beast has become the new sponsor of the NBA team Charlotte Hornets. We considered it far more likely to hear that Mr Beast had crushed some Lamborghinis or solved world peace by buying the earth’s entire stockpile of nuclear weapons, but sponsoring a sports team sounds like a great option as well!
When the NBA campaign begins next week, players for the Charlotte Hornets will have Feastables, the snack brand owned and operated by Mr Beast, as a front-of-jersey patch sponsor.
The Feastables logo will also have a prime position in the stadium and will feature during press conferences and esports events. While Feastables gets wider exposure, the biggest benefit for the Hornets will be a continuous collaboration with Mr Beast and Feastables for social media content and advertising.
This is the first link-up between a digital creator and the NBA but it does follow a wider trend of sports collaborating with social media influencers (think Dude Perfect x Burnley and Prime Hydration x pretty much everyone).
📈 Michael Jordan reaches rare air in the rich list
The Charlotte Hornets weren’t just in the news because of a Mr Beast partnership, the team’s recent sale has actually helped former owner Michael Jordan become one of the richest people on the planet.
It was a surprise when the Hornets recently sold for $3 Billion, almost double their most recent Forbes valuation of $1.7 Billion. Jordan had a majority stake in the team and this sale - coupled with a glittering career, several major investments, and an estimated $260m yearly cheque from Nike - has seen his personal net worth hit $3 Billion.
Jordan has therefore taken a place on the coveted Forbes 400 list, making this the first time that an athlete has been among the 400 richest people in America. This accolade is a testament to the incredible career of Jordan who managed to consistently maximise his earnings both on and off the pitch for almost four decades.
🔮 How much it costs to advertise at the Las Vegas Sphere
You have probably already seen the videos of the impressive Las Vegas sphere on social media. You might have even wondered if it’s actually real, well it is, and it has officially been opened by the band U2 in a concert attended by everyone from Lebron James to Paul McCartney.
Despite having only been officially used once, the sphere has quickly become an iconic part of the Las Vegas skyline, and the impressive visual capabilities of this $2.3B LED-covered dome were on full display at the concert.
Here are some impressive facts about the new attraction:
It stands 111 metres tall and 157 metres wide
It can hold up to 20k people when standing is included (17.5k seated)
It has 268 million video pixels which create an almost CGI feel to the interior and exterior
You can probably imagine the advertising applications for such an impressive building, and probably won’t be too shocked to hear that 1 day of advertising on the sphere costs around $450k, which amounts to just four hours of prime visibility.
❌ This Barcelona wunderkind is too young for video games.
All across the world, excited youngsters (and several adults) have been getting their hands on the newly released FIFA 24 EA Sports FC 24. Each new game promises updated graphics and the latest stars from across football, with one notable exception.
Barcelona’s wunderkind Lamine Yamal may have forced his way into the Barcelona team and earned a release clause of €1 billion but he will not be featuring on EA Sports FC 24. While this may seem like an odd decision, it’s actually all down to Yamal’s age. At just 16, EA Sports will not allow his likeness or name to be used in the game. Company policy is to only include players who are already 17.
Yamal isn’t the only one missing this year. This is the first edition of the game to be without the iconic FIFA name. This comes after EA and FIFA parted ways with football’s governing body supposedly asking for $1 billion over the next four years for naming rights
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