Some Athletes Find Retiring From Sports Is a New Beginning

As the Manning brothers and Shaquille O’Neal make abundantly clear on an annual basis, the end of an athlete’s career in sports may be just the beginning of their life in marketing. Earlier this year, data and marketing firm Helixa released a report about the American football fanbase. The question at the head of the study: Where do fans stand with respect to the intersection of sponsors, teams and star athletes within the more than $80 billion North American sports market? Among insights into fans’ favorite brands, influencers and media, Helixa included a look at the National Football League players with the most reach among fans. The Top 10 included a number of players who currently aren’t in the league: Richard Sherman (who played in just five games last season)Adrian Peterson (who played in just four games in 2021)Cam Newton (who played in just eight games last year) “If a player hadn't said that he's officially retired, I decided to leave them on the list, just in case they go unsigned,” said Alex Lawson, Helixa’s senior research analyst. “But we saw a lot of guys whose heyday was in the past… all guys that aren't really the big names nowadays, but still show up on the list of people that NFL fans are engaging with the most.” Tom Brady Retirement Jokes and Audio Branding by Ryan Tedder Drive New Hertz Ads Others on the list—including J.J. Watt, Russell Wilson and Aaron Rodgers—have spent more than a decade in the NFL. When asked for their Top 3 favorite NFL players, millennials and Gen Z still include Sherman, Watt and Wilson in the mix. During a year that’s already seen NFL stars Larry Fitzgerald, Rob Gronkowski, Ben Roethlisberger and Tom Brady all retire (though Brady’s didn’t take), generations of fans aren’t quite ready to let go of their favorite athletes as they step away from the game. That presents a huge opportunity for brands. Marketers have new ways to capitalize on athletes’ lingering popularity—if fans are willing to associate them with more than just sports. A rush of retirements When Helixa dug a bit deeper into fans’ personalities and preferences, it discovered that football fans who also followed baseball included former Toronto Blue Jays slugger José Bautista among a Top 3 alongside Bryce Harper and Mike Trout. Unlike Harper and Trout, who remain active in Major League Baseball (Harper’s currently playing for the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series), Bautista hasn’t played in an MLB game since 2018. It’s somewhat less surprising that football fans who are into golf would place Tiger Woods in their Top 3. However, it’s still noteworthy, considering Woods just took what’s likely his final walk across Swilcan Bridge at St. Andrew’s during the British Open earlier this year. After a spate of sports retirements including track and field star Allyson Felix, generational tennis talents Serena Williams and Roger Federer, and women’s basketball standouts Sylvia Fowles and Sue Bird, there’s a whole lot of athlete star power that can devote more time to marketing. “Nostalgia is such a powerful factor nowadays,” Lawson said. “We're seeing people going back to brands from their past for everything from video game companies releasing remasters to (former Dallas Cowboys quarterback) Tony Romo being one of the most beloved broadcasters.” Tiger Woods Drives PGA Tour Brand With Video Game Comeback The next chapter Back in September, Michael Heller was inside the O2 Arena in London for Federer’s last match—a doubles pairing with longtime rival Rafael Nadal. A veteran entertainment lawyer whose client roster included Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton, Heller co-founded the Talent Resources Sports agency with business partner and co-CEO David Spencer in 2007 to link athletes with brands. Heller and Spencer met on a tennis court at the Future Stars Tennis Camp on Long Island, where they watched John McEnroe and Andre Agassi play toward the end of their careers. “The internet didn't exist then,” Heller said. “Now, these athletes are globally known and they have a global community on and off the court in retirement through social media, so they're able to really penetrate through.” Spencer left finance to serve as magician David Blaine’s manager, occasionally wrangling members of the New York Knicks to be part of Blaine’s show. Today, while still working with active athletes including the NBA’s Steph Curry, James Harden and Kyle Kuzma, Spencer’s been helping former athletes including snowboarder Shaun White and ex-Boston Celtics captain Paul Pierce seal deals with brands like Samuel Adams and Little Tykes. https://twitter.com/paulpierce34/status/1209606948393537536 “The first thing we do is really take the time to understand the athlete and what their DNA is,” Spencer said. “Finding what their affinities are, finding out what they really like doing—we all know, they like playing basketball, but in some cases they really don't like playing basketball or any sport—and finding out what their true passions are.” When former Knick Amar'e Stoudamire revealed that he was really into art, for instance, Spencer and Heller made a point of taking him to Art Basel. They made introductions that would keep him relevant within the art community. When Stoudamire’s former Knicks teammate Jared Jeffries expressed an interest in fishing, Spencer and Heller suggested he let more people see that side of his personality. That resulted in Jeffries getting his own show, Modern Fishing With Jared Jeffries, on the Outdoor Channel. March Madness Is Always a Special Time for Grant Hill Social media and memory When Spencer and Heller first started working with professional athletes, social media tutorials were part of their service. But they weren’t embraced by everyone. Today, they note that athletes from before or in the early days of social media platforms struggle to rebuild their popularity online. Even those who came up with social media literacy struggle with a drop-off in engagement and followers once they retire. Maintaining both relevance and authenticity in the late stages of a career is particularly important to an athlete’s future branding prospects, Spencer said. If the Talent Resources Sports agency is approached by Neiman Marcus for a former athlete to use in an NBA Draft campaign, Spencer said the agency wants to be able to show them someone with an eye for style who’d wear the items they’re pitching in public. “Shaq may love cars—I know he does, he's got a garage full of them—but does he necessarily drive the Buick? Does LeBron drive the [Kia] K900?” Spencer said. “They may love cars, but being specific and aligning with a brand that you're using on a day-to-day basis and something that you feel confident in selling is important. The consumer is so savvy, they're starting to really understand it and see through what different brands are doing.” https://twitter.com/ScottiePippen/status/1579944686663634944 As the year comes to a close, TRS has taken its own advice. It’s found a comfortable fit for NBA Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen in the pages of the Neiman Marcus holiday catalog. Shoppers can play two-on-two with Pippen and his son, who’s currently on the Los Angeles Lakers. Fans can have a meal with the father and son hoops stars for a mere $333,333—a tribute to Pippen’s 33 jersey number. They’ve also paired Shaun White with General Mills’s Old El Paso brand. The brand filmed a commercial at an indoor skate facility in Park City, Utah, for its Walmart-exclusive Fiesta Twists snack. “You have athletes talking about their hair loss, you have a lot of these athletes talking about arthritis,” Heller said. “The world is so much more open minded now than it's ever been, and the landscape’s completely changed to make their abilities off the court so much more valuable.”

Sports Marketing News

For Some Athletes, Retiring From Sports Is a New Beginning

Brands—and nostalgia—help former players transition into a second career

Jason Notte

About

Subscriptions

Events

Publications

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Subscribe today!

Jason Notte