Naomi Osaka starts a media company, with help from LeBron James

The tennis star is behind an entertainment company called Hana Kuma in partnership with LeBron James’s fast-growing SpringHill.

What's the deal?

Osaka, 24, said in a brief Zoom interview that her ambitions for Hana Kuma, which stands for “flower bear” in Japanese, include scripted and unscripted television series, documentaries, anime and branded content, which is entertainment programming that has embedded or integrated advertising.

Ms. Osaka’s candor has resonated with an audience far beyond sports — young people in particular — making her a sponsorship dream even though she has recently struggled on the tennis court. “The goal here is to build Hana Kuma into a real company and a real brand.” SpringHill’s emphasis on branded content sets it apart from old-line studios. Hana Kuma has been hired by FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange, to produce branded content.

The bottom line:

SpringHill wants to replicate the Hana Kuma deal with other athletes who have global appeal. “We want to do a lot more of this in the future,” Maverick Carter said, noting that discussions have started with other sports stars.

Read: The New York Times

Marshawn Lynch teams with Endeavor, Overtime to launch ‘Level Up’ for athletes pursuing sports and entertainment careers

Football icon Marshawn Lynch has a new team. The former NFL star running back has partnered with Endeavor and Overtime to launch the “Level Up” program for athletes pursuing careers in sports and entertainment. The new athlete accelerator program is designed to diversify the talent pipeline across the industry and increase access for the more than 450,000 student-athletes who decide to pivot from professional sports into another career path without the exposure to the business world their fellow students received through internships.

“Level Up” is a free two-week virtual course designed to provide current and former athletes with the tools necessary to translate their on-the-field talent and skills into a relevant professional experience to start a career. Program participants will learn about career opportunities that exist in the industry and a variety of topics including, sports as a platform, marketing, financial literacy, mental health, professional development and transferable skills.

Read: Variety

Syracuse becomes first school to create NFT for student-athletes

Syracuse University is the first NCAA school to create non-fungible tokens (NFT) for its student-athletes that allows those student-athletes to profit under name image and likeness (NIL) rules. The school announced the historic deal through its partnership with Fantastec SWAP as part of the ACCELERATE program, designed to aid student-athletes in NIL opportunities. NFT are digital collectibles that can be collected, swapped or traded by fans or collectors through the Fantastec SWAP app.

SWAP uniquely produces NFTs at scale meaning any or all of the 600+ Syracuse student-athletes signing up for the 2022-23 campaign can have their own NFTs as part of the official Syracuse sports collection. Fantastec SWAP is built on the Flow blockchain, meaning Syracuse student-athletes will be part of the largest sports NFT ecosystem that also houses NBA Top Shot, the UFC, and NFL All Day. "Syracuse is an ideal launch partner for our NCAA initiatives because their enthusiasm matches ours in creating unique NFT products that will be engaging to fans while benefiting student-athletes," said Steve Madincea, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Fantastec SWAP.

Read: Sports Illustrated

What is Working RIGHT NOW in Sports Marketing?

Sports betting, NFTs, content creation, NIL, athlete sponsorships, community relations … it’s an exciting time to work in sports marketing. How are these new revenue streams, technologies, and fan experiences shaping the future of this sector? What’s working?

Download this information sheet from WorkInSports to score insights on sports marketing trends from 10 industry insiders.

Division Street’s new NFT program to benefit Oregon’s female athletes

Division Street, a University of Oregon-focused NIL company formed by Phil Knight and former Nike executives, is launching a new NFT collection to benefit all participating female athletes at Oregon. “Visions of Flight” is part of Division Street’s previously announced Ducks of a Feather NFT platform. “As the 50th anniversary of Title IX draws near, we were inspired by two female University of Oregon trailblazers—Sabrina Ionescu and Sedona Prince—who regularly use their voices and platforms to shift the landscape of women’s sports,” said Division Street CEO Rosemary St.-Clair.

“Visions of Flight will enable female U of O student-athletes to express their voices through creative NFT design in partnership with Lili Tae, who is a trailblazer in her own right as an artist. We believe the innovation and community of Web3 will benefit the next generation of female student-athletes.” Tae provided the athletes with a series of attributes and icons to choose from, using the unique choices and personalities of each athlete to create a 1-of-1 NFT for each athlete. The NFTs are then scaled through technology to result in “a game-changing collection of one-of-a-kind generative NFTs.”

Read: Forbes

Las Vegas sports betting giant roll the dice on Hollywood talent

Hollywood has come to accept that content is the primary weapon in the streaming wars. Quietly, as legalized online sports betting spreads across the country, content also has become the weapon of choice for digital casino operators and betting firms looking for that edge in what has been an expensive grab for consumer dollars. And content creators, from production companies to podcasters to established TV talent, are cashing in.

Online sports betting has been on a steady expansion across the U.S. since the 2018 Supreme Court ruling in Murphy vs. NCAA paved the way for states to permit the practice. As each state legalized access to sports betting, gaming operators jumped into the space, both digitally native firms like DraftKings, and legacy casino brands like MGM and Caesars. Even media companies entered the fray, with Fox launching FoxBet in partnership with Flutter. Caesars Entertainment, owner of the famed Las Vegas casino resort and the Caesars Sportsbook mobile app, inked a deal with Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions to produce video and podcast content for its various platforms. “Caesars’ big bet is that Peyton drives his rabid audience to its gambling platform—and keeps them there, and away from others,” says Peter Csathy, chairman of advisory firm Creative Media.

Read: Sportico

Share today's edition with a friend who needs to watch the movie Olga.