Kobe Bryant, Then LeBron James, and Now Tom Brady
When Michael Jordan retired the second time, he decided to stick to sports and start and operate a motorsports franchise in North Carolina, as well as run the Washington Wizards.
But that was a generation ago, and Jordan changed all of that just like he did with Space Jam.
Modern athletes, from Kevin Garnett to LeBron James have larger appetites and the world of social media and the followers have convinced them that they are really entertainers and celebrities with not only star power, but also the commensurate production power.
From the trades:
Hollywood will be part of the long term plan for the record-setting quarterback, [Tom Brady], with the help of the directors of the all-time biggest grossing film. Brady is launching 199 Productions, a global multi-platform content company to develop original premium content including documentaries, feature films, and television shows. The company has quietly assembled a slate of development projects that include several with Brady on camera, in stories spanning sports, entertainment and health and wellness among others.
More multiplatform content with streaming and social hooked on for good measure.
Superheroes Move Us Not Sportsball “Heroes”
Yes, the NFL took a drubbing the ratings over the last few years due to the shenanigans of Colin Kapernick and his “kneeling during the anthem” brethren, but Brady has always been polarizing as an athlete because he remains freakishly healthy and the Patriots seem to be unbeatable at the Superbowl.
Unless you’re the Giants or the Eagles, that is.
Combine the Patriots’ early exit from the playoffs this year, and Brady’s flopping around ignominiously in free agency negotiations right now, it is clear that he is looking to expand his celebrity brand beyond football fans, in the same way, that Kobe Bryant tried to do in his post-basketball career.
This means, taking on the talents of the two biggest, most popular directors that normal people know about who watch MCU movies, the Russo Brothers.
From the trades:
Brady has teamed up with Avengers: Endgame directors Joe & Anthony Russo and their AGBO Films’ non-fiction group, Wonderburst, to produce Unseen Football. The feature is described as a fast-paced, incandescent big-screen 3D adventure documentary designed to take viewers into the invisible realms of football, guided by the most successful quarterback in NFL history.
There’s everything a normal film viewer could want in that description: 3D, fast-paced, and “those Avengers directors” along for the ride.
The film will be directed by Gotham Chopra, co-founder of Religion of Sports and the exec producer of the 2018 Emmy-winning Facebook Watch’s Tom vs. Time. That docu-series followed Brady’s training and prep regimen, as he continued to put up MVP-caliber numbers in a sport where the average career of an NFL quarterback spans only a few years. Tom vs. Time drew 100 million views on Facebook, making it one of the most widely viewed sports documentaries in history.
What Are We To Make of All of This?
ESPN has done a masterful job in the last few years with their sports documentary series 30 for 30.
And Netflix has already waded into the waters with sports documentaries, as well as HBO Films and others.
There’s not a lot of oxygen left in the room for 199 Productions and AGBO Films in this space and without the gimmick of 3D, the ways in which to sell this documentary are limited.
It remains to be seen if a streaming, multi-content platform with Tom Brady’s face plastered all over it will be as good a move as a romantic comedy with LeBron James, or even a restaurant with Michael Jordan’s name attached to it.
If he wins another Emmy though, we’ll know what the deal is though.
