Cosmic Crisp
Pickleball star Tyson McGuffin has reached a one-year sponsorship with Cosmic Crisp that will see the hybrid Enterprise/Honeycrisp apple integrated into McGuffin’s pickleball camps and self-created web content.
Financials were not disclosed. The deal, Cosmic Crisp’s first major sports partnership, was negotiated by Topnotch Management director of partnerships James Palko (representing McGuffin), Proprietary Variety Management (which oversees consumer and trade marketing for Cosmic Crisp) and Harbor Creative Group (Cosmic Crisp’s creative agency of record).
For McGuffin, the deal represents a “full-circle” moment. That is because years before McGuffin was the fourth-ranked men’s singles player on the PPA Tour and a member of MLP’s Orlando Squeeze, he was the youngest of seven siblings growing up on an apple orchard in Chelan, Wash., where working for his dad, eating apples and riding dirt bikes were staple memories.
“If there’s one main thing that we always look for in brand partnerships it’s that I absolutely love the product and I’ll support the product,” McGuffin said. “I’m pretty unique in a sense of, not only can they market a brand through me as an athlete, but we can market the brand through my businesses.”
Cosmic Crisp joins a roster of brands sponsoring McGuffin that includes Miller Lite, Skechers (which outfits him for matches) and pickleball equipment provider Joola Pickleball, among others.
“Any brand that we take on, we’re looking at long-term,” McGuffin said. “After the one year, definitely looking to pursue a much longer deal with Cosmic Crisp if things go well.”
