LaVar Ball’s pursuit of new athletes, whether in the NBA or NFL, will be an uphill battle for a variety of reasons. On top of having no other players on the books with Big Baller Brand other than his sons, competing against big, established brands like Nike, Adidas and Under Armour, among others, will be a daunting task.
Therefore, Ball and his company will have to get creative to persuade athletes to join the company. During an interview with TMZ, Ball revealed one of his tactics, which would involve how Big Baller Brand athletes would be paid.
Instead of offering a convention, multi-year contract with guaranteed money – Ball used the example of a 5-year, $10 million deal – he would instead offer athletes a stake in the profits they make for the company.
“But my endorsement is going to be a little different. And it’s not even going to be like an endorsement deal. The guys that I want to be involved, I want them to believe in themselves so I’m going to give them 40% of the profit of what they make.”
Ball not only sees the unique structure as a way for athletes to bet on themselves but also as a way for young players to learn about business and ownership first-hand.
“Most of the black kids that are super talented, ya’ll don’t own nothing. That’s the mindset we have to change. If you’re 90% of the league and you still don’t own nothing, that’s got to make you wonder sometimes where you have to look back and be like ‘Wow, I think I want to be like the owners.’ If the owners can pay four or five people on the team $100 million, $200 million, imagine how much they’re making. And they’re not even playing.”
As interesting, unique and potentially profitable the idea could be, it’s also an unprecedented one. It would be difficult to work out the details of a deal like this and would be even tougher pulling it off given Big Baller Brand’s struggles in the past year.
But all it takes is one person to make the leap and show faith in Ball, the company and the idea for it to gain steam. And given Ball’s ability to speak things into existence in the past, it’d be hard to bet against him if it happens.
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