Super Bowl Strategy Simplified

The Sneaker Wars were red hot at The Super Bowl in Las Vegas.

Adidas and Mahomes versus Nike and their new Air Max.

I got a lot of questions around the Super bowl this year:
Why is Patrick Mahomes not promoting a cleat?
Why don't they sell jerseys?
Why is Nike marketing a sneaker at a football event?

Let me break it down for you below…

And by the way, Nike had Travis Kelce before Taylor Swift did. 😘

First up, we have to understand the American football audience. America is obsessed with football, but the rest of the globe is obsessed with soccer. 

A great nugget on this came from Front Office Sports this weekend: the only two PEOPLE on the planet to hit half a BILLION followers on Instagram? Cristiano Ronaldo & Messi.

Compare that to American Football players’ influence on Instagram. I’m well versed in this and it’s still shocking to me how vast the difference is.
OBJ is at the top with 17 million. Patrick Mahomes has a third of that at 6.8m after winning his third Super Bowl! Those are a drop in the bucket to the top Soccer Stars.

Next, we have to understand the consumer of football. There is primarily a fan who is older and rabid, but that's not who these sneaker companies are targeting.
And then you have the player who actually plays on the field. But they're a small audience. They play from the age from seven to maybe 17 or 18.
But this consumer buying jerseys and Zubaz pants can buy until they're 77. 

The other challenge with the Super Bowl is that the gear that is represented on the field is out of season. No one's going to buy a jersey after the Super Bowl.
And football players don't buy actual cleats until the 7 on 7 season in the summer and then preparing for their big season around August or September.

Lastly, licensed jersey sell a lot more than cleats and gloves.
But you know what sells most for both of these brands? Sneakers. So, that's why Nike was selling sneakers on that Sphere instead of football cleats.

I preferred the Adidas creative. Patrick Mahomes, the star of the weekend, actually throwing a football at the Super Bowl, compared to the albeit cooler creative of the Air Max.

But then I saw the below. Nike and their agency used an AR filter. If you pointed it at the Sphere, no matter what was showing, their Air Max guy shows up.
Genius.
The Battle Never Ends.

In other News:
The NBA All Star weekend was mostly forgettable, but Steph & Sabrina won the weekend.

How OBJ Changed the Cleat Game & My Career Forever.

s/o to the HUSTLER Thai Saechao who helped me put this newsletter together this week. He’s looking for a role in Sports Marketing, so connect with him if you’re looking for someone with initiative & intelligence. That’s a rare combo!

Education + Resources:

How to Land a Job in Sports Marketing: my course lives on my site forever, but I’ll share the LIVE Recording with anyone who buys it this month.

I joined Gabby Reece on her podcast last month to talk NIL, Athlete Branding & Recovery. Listen or Watch it here.

I also joined the Sweat Equity Podcast to talk ALL about Nike, Branding & Marketing. Watch it or Listen here.

Next time, Tiger & Sun Day Red.

BLESSINGS:
This week was my friend Brittany Barnett’s Birthday. I’m grateful she was born because she helps free people (like my guy Chris Young-pictured right) from unjust life sentences.
Buy her book.
Support her orgs.
Get to know Brittany.
You’ll be better off because of her.