Archive for Sports – Page 4

Sean McVay Creating a New Prototype for NFL Head Coaches

In 2018, at age 33, Sean McVay became the youngest coach to ever lead a team to the Super Bowl.  When he was hired as the Los Angeles Ram’s head coach less than 2 years earlier, many people had doubts that he had the experience to successfully coach and NFL team, as most coaches to not get a chance to be head coaches in the NFL until their 40s or 50s.  However, despite his lack of experience, Sean McVay was able to quickly find success by seeing the game differently than his head coaching peers.  McVay grew up around the game of football, as his grandfather was an NFL head coach and his father and uncle both played college football.  McVay played quarterback in high school and wide receiver in college, so his family history and experience playing multiple positions helped him to develop a deep understanding of the game at a young age.  McVay had the ability to easily understand all the complicated schematics of an NFL offense, which allowed him to use his entrepreneurial mindset to to find new ways of helping an offense put points on the scoreboard more efficiently.  This was evident in home much better young quarterback Jared Goff performed under McVay as opposed to under the old Ram’s coach.  Goff completed a higher percentage of his passes for more touchdowns and less interceptions once McVay took over as head coach.  McVay’s leadership has also been credited as a reason why he has found success so quickly as a coach.  He is friendly to his players and works well with them, but also knows how to push players to get the most out of them.  This leadership is another trait that is important to an innovator in any field.  This innovative style of coaching has caught on in the NFL and made McVay sort of a disrupter in the industry, as other teams have recently hired Matt LaFleur and Kliff Kingsbury, who are two other young coaches that are similar to McVay.  While we wouldn’t normally look at NFL coaches as entrepreneurs, the way that Sean McVay has changed the way teams play offense and hire young head coaches have shown that he is an innovator with an entrepreneurial mindset.

https://www.businessinsider.com/nfl-coaches-hired-sean-mcvay-2019-1

CUE Audio: No WiFi, No Problem

Those who have ever been in a large stadium know that the cell service and WiFi located inside are poor quality at best.  Concert-goers and sports fans all struggle with lack of connectivity, and stadium owners want to engage those in attendance as much as possible.  Jameson Rader sought to solve this problem.  His solution, data-over-audio transmission, led to his founding of CUE audio.

Solution

How does one transmit data without WiFi or cell service?  CUE audio uses high-frequency, ultrasonic audio to connect tens of thousands of fans in a stadium.  The sound waves are low-pitched enough to be ascertained by electronic devices, such as phones, but too high-pitched to be detected by the human ear.  The name of the company is derived from the information encoded in the sound waves known as “cues”.  The best part about this technology, however, lies in the fact that an arena can use existing audio hardware.  This greatly lowers the adoption cost for venue owners.  CUE Audio technology allows fans to engage in light shows, group selfies, and trivia games.  They can also get coupons and receive push notifications.

Education

To understand how Rader was able to create such a technologically-innovative brand, one can look to his proficient performance during his education.  At age 16, he enrolled in Northwestern University.  Three years later, Rader graduated Magna Cum Laude with a English and Economics double-major.  After Northwesterm, he studied at UCLA Anderson School of Management but dropped out to focus on CUE Audio after receiving $3 million in funding from the Texas Rangers.  Finally, in October 2017, 26-year-old Jameson Rader founded CUE Audio.

CUE Audio Today

Today, CUE Audio is used at over 800 live events annually.  CUE has synced crowds up to 120,000 in NFL stadiums, NCAA arenas, and other venues across the country.  Rader has very optimistic plans for his company’s future, as its growth over the past three years has been very promising.  Later down the line, it’s possible that CUE Audio will become a staple for fan engagement in stadiums and arenas across the country.

Ben Francis: The Mastermind Behind Gymshark

If you go to the gym, you’ll see many different clothing brands worn by the people working out. Some of the brands that are always popular and worn by many are Nike, Adidas, and Under Armor. However, a brand that has quickly swam to the top and is becoming more and more popular in the workout community is Gymshark. The brand was started in 2012 by Ben Francis while he attended college at Aston University in England and since then, has been expanding every year since.

How it Started:

At the age of 19, Francis created Gymshark in his dorm room. However, he did not start his brand with selling clothing. The brand started out by selling supplements from other retailers. Nevertheless, Francis saw a need in the fitness industry. He did not like the style of clothing other brands had and thought he could fill that need. As a result, when he had saved enough money, he purchased a screen printer and sewing machine. He did not know how to sew, but quickly learned from his grandmother. Francis began selling his clothing on the Gymshark website and to his friends and family. Although he was not very successful, Francis loved what he was doing and wanted to grow. He started to send his products to YouTube fitness creators with big followings. Lex Griffith was the first sponsored Gymshark athlete and he advertised their gear to his subscribers. This is what started to blow up the brand and by the end of 2012, they were not making enough product to keep up with the demand of their customers.

Where Francis has taken the company:

Since Francis started the company in 2012, Gymshark’s sales has grown every year since. The brand did $500,000 in sales in 2013 and that grew to $52 million by the end of 2017! More recently in August, the company was valued at $1.3 billion in their first investment round. Francis was able to grow the brand so large and so quickly because of a few strategies. First, Gymshark does not over saturate with their clothes. They have limited releases with their clothing and most of their releases sell out very quickly. Besides their core clothing with just simple branding (which is always stocked), Gymshark creates cool designs and graphics for their clothes. Once these items sell out, they do not come back. This exclusivity creates high demand for consumers. Next, Gymshark only sells on their website and not through an intermediary which helps to keep costs down. This direct relationship with the customers makes the buying experience more personal as well. Finally, Francis was able to grow Gymshark because of their massive social media following. Their Instagram account boasts 4.7 million followers currently and showcases their sponsored athletes, customers, and general lifting how to’s. Because of all of this, Gymshark shows no sign of slowing down and growing even larger. All of this due to a college student who started a company at the age of 19 in his dorm room.

 

Lebron James

Lebron James is probably the best basketball player we are going to see in a very long time. No one else possesses his overpowering athleticism and ability to score at will. But that’s not the only thing he has going for him. Since the beginning of his career he has made many sports deals with big companies that have given him the crown as “King James”. The biggest deal he made was with Nike, he’s going on to making his 20th version of Nike footwear.

Nike has given him the ability to market his name and this will have a lasting impact on the rest of his life. Even if he retired right now, he could still be making millions from his deals with Nike. In 2015, Lebron signed a lifetime endorsement deal with Nike, which will pay him over $1 billion by the time he’s 64. This shows us that he is much more than a basketball player and even more of a business man, he is truly the King.

The GOAT

Tom Brady has shown us time and time again what he is about on the field. Leading the Patriots to six super bowl wins. Besides the fact that he is the greatest of all time, he has also used his platform to his advantage. Unlike other quarterback Tom is playing at a peak in his career at the age of 42, for a quarterback in the NFL this is unheard of; and he isn’t even playing on retiring anytime soon. This is all thanks to his top of the line fitness and nutrition lifestyle he calls “the TB12 Method”. He has used this methImage result for tom brady tb12od to market his lifestyle to his fans. He is one of the most well known names in football which is genius because on top of the millions of dollars he’s making from the NFL, he’s making millions on the side all because of his TB12 Method. He could continue to sell his method until after he retires as well and would always have a source of income. But who needs an income when your model wife Gisele Bündchen makes double what you’re making… crazy how that works.