Even though there is currently a lockout in the NBA it is still making headlines. The Philadelphia 76ers have been sold and out of the several owners two that can be noted are Will and Jada Pinkett Smith. While the Associated Press writer decided to bury this in the nut graph, the Smiths are now another addition to the slough of celebrities that have taken stake in a professional sports team.Most recently LeBron James bought shares in the biggest sports franchise in the world; Manchester United of the Premiership League in England. Fellow pro athlete Michael Jordan also has a stake in the Charlotte Bobcats of the NBA with hip-hop artist Nelly. And Usher and Jay-Z have ownership deals with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the New Jersey Nets respectively.
The Miami Dolphins have Venus and Serena Williams, Marc Anthony, Emilio and Gloria Estefan, and of course Jimmy Buffet in their partnership and for a season Jimmy Buffets beer company even had sponsorship rights when it was called Land Shark Stadium. Will it become a frequent practice for famous sports stars, musicians, and actors to make investments in major sports teams? It seems like the routine is leaning towards that idea.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/10/18/sports/basketball/AP-BKN-76ers-Sale.html?_r=1&ref=sports
I love this! Of course they own sports teams, I mean, they can afford it, right? Lebron owning shares in ManU makes my heart sing.
ReplyDeleteI think that this practice can only help the publicity and PR of a given team. And of course celebrities will want to invest in teams; it plays to the desire for possessions and power. There is just the issue of what happens if a celeb is hit by scandal; will it hurt the reputation of a team?
ReplyDeleteI think this is pretty interesting. If I had the kind of money they have, I would probably never guess that a sports team is a good investment. There has to be some kind of incentive behind so many celebrities buying shares of teams. Maybe this is a great money making scheme for people, more money than they already have.
ReplyDeleteI have always wondered just how much power they have or if they have any say on what the team does or doesn't do, or are they just there for decoration?
This doesn't surprise me, but still remains interesting. It can definitely be a great PR move for an organization to use the celebrity's equity in the public, so to speak. It can help increase ticket sales, merchandise sales, and overall revenue. Their potential interests in playing a deciding role in the direction of the organization is something to worry about if they have little to no experience in management. It will be interesting to see how these stories play out.
ReplyDeleteOne thing to note: most of these scenarios involve the celebrity or athlete owning a small percentage of the team, such as 1 or 2 percent. So therefore while they are technically an owner, they're not exactly making roster decisions. Now, with that being said, it is interesting to see these celebrities/athletes joining the ownership fray. Heck, Michael Jordan runs the Bobcats and hasn't come close to the success he enjoyed as a player. And his friend Derek Jeter, for example, has always said he'd like to be an owner. With the money he's made through playing and endorsements, you can certainly envision a scenario where he can be the front-man for an ownership group in baseball some day.
ReplyDeleteMichael Jordan I believe was the first player in any sport to become the majority owner of a franchise, which is pretty incredible. There is alot of money in sports franchises, so it makes sense that people with money would look to invest.
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