Athlete brand licensing
License an athlete's name and likeness for products, endorsements, and content, monetized via royalty split.
The idea, in plain language
License an athlete's name and likeness for products, endorsements and content, monetised via a royalty split with the athlete. The videos are MFM-only: the Adam Neumann / WeWork coworking story with a tangent on sports-recovery, cryotherapy, saunas, sensory deprivation and athlete endorsements, Andrew Chen on buying Michael Jordan's house as a business asset and whether to invest in athletes, a 72-minute Tony Hawk sit-down covering skate-park economics and the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater licensing arc, Will Ahmed (Whoop) on signing Lebron and Michael Phelps as launch customers and building a $3.6B fitness-wearable subscription, Jesse Cole and the Savannah Bananas as a showman-led billion-dollar touring brand, Audie Attar on managing Conor McGregor and building Proper Twelve whiskey from scratch to a roughly $650M exit, and a 2020 episode on renting vs buying plus athlete-startup ideas. Customers are fans, retail buyers and media audiences; startup capital is relationship-driven (the athlete plus the licensing machinery); cited revenue is $3.6B (Whoop valuation), $650M (Proper Twelve exit), $1B+ Savannah Bananas brand, $50B+ Gilbert net worth (the unrelated Dan Gilbert narrative).
Where the sources agree
- An athlete's brand is the asset - Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, Conor McGregor's Proper Twelve, the Savannah Bananas' touring show and Whoop's Lebron launch all license a person into a category.
- Storytelling and showmanship compound the brand - Jesse Cole's 'insanely great' culture, Audie Attar's Proper Twelve build and Adam Neumann's WeWork mystique all share the same narrative-engineering shape.
- Hardware + subscription is the modern athlete-brand monetisation - Whoop's $3.6B wearable subscription is the headline case.
- Athletes are increasingly used as launch customers rather than endorsement buyers - Whoop's Lebron-and-Phelps seeding, the Savannah Bananas' touring show and McGregor's whiskey deal all position the athlete as the wedge into a larger category.
Where they differ
- Channels: MFM owns the idea entirely (all seven videos); Isenberg, Koerner and Starter Story do not appear, so the lens is uniformly MFM-biography.
- Asset type varies: personal brand and content (Tony Hawk), licensed celebrity liquor (Proper Twelve), live-entertainment franchise (Savannah Bananas), hardware subscription (Whoop), MMA fighter management (Attar/McGregor), and basketball-team ownership (the unrelated Dan Gilbert narrative).
- Capital intensity is relationship-driven rather than product-driven - the videos do not present a typical 'start with X dollars' playbook.
- Founder posture: athlete-manager (Attar), showman-operator (Jesse Cole), hardware CEO (Will Ahmed), licensor (Tony Hawk's Pro Skater), investor (Andrew Chen on Jordan's house), and empire-builder (Gilbert, McKelvey).
What each source says
MFMMaking Billions in Coworking & the Dark Side of Confidence | My First Million #190
Video covers Making Billions in Coworking & the Dark Side of Confidence | My First Million #190.
Watch on YouTubeMFMMFM #158: How We're Going to Buy Michael Jordan's House (and Make a Profit)
Video covers MFM #158: How We're Going to Buy Michael Jordan's House (and Make a Profit).
Watch on YouTubeside-hustle-school#261 - Former NFL Player Sells Ice Shakers for $20,000/Month Income
A former NFL player in Texas launches an insulated shaker bottle brand and hits about $20,000/month within six months. The episode is framed as leveraging an athlete's personal brand to sell consumer drinkware.
Listen on Side Hustle SchoolMFMTony Hawk inspiring us for 72 minutes straight
Video covers Tony Hawk inspiring us for 72 minutes straight.
Watch on YouTubeMFMHow I Built Whoop Into A $3.6 BILLION Company (#411)
Video covers How I Built Whoop Into A $3.6 BILLION Company (#411).
Watch on YouTubeMFMHe turned a broke team into a billion dollars
Video covers He turned a broke team into a billion dollars.
Watch on YouTubeMFMMeet The Man Behind Conor McGregor’s +$650M Empire (#487)
Video covers Meet The Man Behind Conor McGregor’s +$650M Empire (#487).
Watch on YouTubeMFMOur Thoughts: Black Lives Matter, Renting vs Buying, & Housing Market | My First Million 06/01/2020
Video covers Our Thoughts: Black Lives Matter, Renting vs Buying, & Housing Market | My First Million 06/01/2020.
Watch on YouTubeTools people use for this
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