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Marketing and Sponsorship

Ebony Profiles Dwyane Wade's Growing Endorsement Portfolio, Li-Ning Experiment

Heat G Dwyane Wade is “busy building an impressive business empire of his own design, whether it’s inking a sneaker deal in China; endorsing products for various U.S. partners in the beverage, snack, jewelry, or apparel industries; promoting his book ... or just generally weighing the myriad other opportunities that continue to [propel] his brand to a whole new level,” according to Ron Stodghill of EBONY. The NBA, or “any professional sports league for that matter, doesn’t have a history of spawning winning Black business figures.” The roster of “lose-it-all jocks” includes boxing HOFers Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield, former NFLers Terrell Owens and Lawrence Taylor, and former NBAer Allen Iverson. But Wade is “working overtime to keep his name off that list.” Wade said, “Those are the guys we learn from. It’s scary. You know I played with Antoine Walker but didn’t see any signs of (anything wrong). Then two or three years later, (he) winds up bankrupt.” Wade’s business profile is “rolling its own kind of dice -- as evidenced by its namesake’s [gutsy] move recently to break from vaunted Nike -- and yes, Brand Jordan, to sign with Chinese footwear making Li-Ning.” Wade reportedly will earn $10M per year during the 10-year contract and "receive significant equity in the company.” Although Li-Ning “boasts huge popularity in China, you’d be hard pressed to find an American who ever heard of the brand.” Still, Wade’s bet is “that he can earn Li-Ning street cred on the urban U.S. blacktop while amassing some brant cachet in China.” Li-Ning Vice GM for Basketball & Brand Initiatives Dir Brian Cupps said, “For the NBA to go global, they have to win China, and for Li-Ning to go global, we have to win the United States. D. Wade has the celebrity and superstar power to help us do that” (EBONY.com, 3/12).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

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