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Being a high-profile skilled athlete means residing below fixed scrutiny, with a billion-dollar business constructed round analyzing your each transfer. From tabloids to speak reveals to tweets, sports activities content material is sort of unattainable to flee.
Have a foul recreation? Sure media members are licking their lips. A playoff dud? You may be dodging bar TVs enjoying ESPN for every week. However what occurs if you give athletes the tools to stage the enjoying area? What occurs once they get to reply?
That is the query Brandon Harris needs to reply with Playmaker.
Rewriting the playbook
Based in 2018, Playmaker has grown right into a globally acknowledged sports activities media enterprise, that includes video podcasts — or, as Harris calls them, reveals — with top-tier athletes like Angel Reese and Shaquille O’Neal. Harris based Playmaker after rising disillusioned along with his position in sports activities advertising and marketing.
“I used to be on the shopping for facet, and I at all times noticed folks on the opposite facet having far more enjoyable,” he says. “I used to be bored with simply getting folks to purchase merch. I wished to construct issues that followers might take pleasure in.”
For Harris, that meant creating distribution channels targeted on sports activities storytelling immediately from the athletes.
As soon as Harris outlined his content material technique, his subsequent precedence was setting Playmaker aside from the competitors. He did this by emphasizing video, in contrast to main gamers within the house who targeted on audio.
“Our pitch was easy,” Harris says. “We perceive the panorama, know the way to interact on social, construct communities, and create participating video.”
Since launching Playmaker, Harris and his group have produced tens — if not lots of — of hundreds of items of “graphic content material,” together with three- to six-minute breakout movies. He makes an effort to eat as a lot suggestions as attainable, estimating he is learn tens of millions of feedback.
“I used to name myself the widespread man barometer,” Harris says. “I’ve learn sufficient and posted sufficient that I believe I perceive most sports activities followers.”
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One motive an athlete would possibly hesitate is the chance of changing into a viral meme after a foul recreation or seeing main sports activities retailers report stats like, “Participant X has recorded extra podcast episodes this season than video games performed” whereas recovering from an harm. Whether or not it is jealousy, insecurity, or loyalty to a rival group, some sports activities followers – and even conventional media – are likely to react negatively to athlete-hosted reveals, typically for causes which have little to do with the precise content material.
“I believe it is ridiculous,” Harris says. “It seems like a ‘shut up and dribble’ mindset. Folks applaud athletes for constructing companies, and that is precisely what that is. They’re spending an hour or two every week on it—if that is taking away from their follow, then there are greater points at play.”
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Turning clips into clicks
In 2024, Playmaker’s authentic content material generated over $25M in earned media worth from greater than 1,000 posts and articles shared by publishers. Earned media, which refers to publicity a model features from third events with out paying for it, is taken into account a holy grail in digital advertising and marketing.
Harris likens this natural content material to a “funnel” that directs viewers of viral clips towards the complete present. He attributes Playmaker’s success in earned media to 2 key elements: its huge social distribution and dynamic expertise roster.
“We’ve expertise that’s genuine and prepared to say issues some safer personalities keep away from for PR causes,” Harris says, highlighting figures like Shaq, Angel Reese, and Marshawn Lynch. “We have at all times prioritized expertise that’s genuinely entertaining and will not simply regurgitate PR messaging each episode.”
As a reasonably small firm, Playmaker does not have the posh of limitless assets. Due to that, Harris could be very explicit about who he chooses to work with.
“There’s plenty of expertise that I actually like and respect that I’ve needed to say no to,” Harris says. “We do not tackle initiatives until we’re assured in our capability to dedicate the time, assets, and a focus wanted to make them profitable.”
Not like lots of their rivals, Playmaker permits athletes to retain full management of their property and IP.
“For those who’re an athlete, partnering with Playmaker means having a platform constructed for you that you would be able to take with you, monetize now, and use to develop your different manufacturers,” Harris says. “So why would not you do it?”
This turns into significantly related with streaming giants like Netflix and Amazon eyeing the video podcast house. Whereas Playmaker is open to distribution offers, Harris insists any partnership should be non-exclusive. That mentioned, he isn’t ruling out a collaboration with one of many content material kings.
“We’d work with them to develop one thing new and non-exclusive,” he says, “however for us, the precedence has at all times been digital and social native.
Although Playmaker’s enterprise mannequin is comparatively new, Harris admits they don’t seem to be the primary to do an athlete podcast. Nonetheless, somewhat than constructing an organization in an business with many years of confirmed success tales to mannequin plans on, Harris began Playmaker at a time when athlete podcasts had been nonetheless seen as a novelty somewhat than a norm. As an alternative of balking, Harris embraced the uncertainty, believing he was onto one thing with huge potential.
“As an enormous sports activities fan myself, I take into consideration what I need to see extra of and what I need to see much less of,” Harris says. “And I might somewhat watch a high quality, genuine athlete podcast than something that is on TV.”
