Athlete vs. Brand

After Anthony “AJ” Joshua lost his heavyweight titles — IBF, WBA and WBO — to Andy Ruiz Jr., he was seriously lambasted.

He’s been likened to gym rats, called fake and said to have being doing it all for the gram. Some others said he’s been too focused on building his brand that he lost his hunger for boxing.

It is unfortunate how much pressure fans put athletes under because we expect them to remain champions forever. But nothing lasts forever.

Yes, Ruiz Jr. had less than 1 million followers on Instagram at the time he defeated Joshua, and Joshua had 9 million. Yes, Ruiz Jr. does not have a six-pack and Joshua does yet Ruiz Jr. beat Joshua.

So maybe having a six-pack does not matter in defeating your opponent in boxing. But branding matters because it takes a brand to sell-out tickets to a fight at the Cardiff Principality Stadium or pack-out the the London O2 Arena and Madison Square Garden in New York. The reality is that fans buy into the brand just as much as they do the athlete.

Furthermore, were sport only about the game and not the branding, David Beckham wouldn’t be the biggest football brand in the world years after retirement.

After Beckham accepted to play for Major League Soccer club, LA Galaxy, the US has been able to attract more big players including ex-Manchester United players Zlatan Ibrahimović and Wayne Rooney. Ibrahimović who was ranked the third-best player in the world (behind only Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo) by The Guardian UK currently plays for LA Galaxy, while Rooney now plays for D.C United. It’s all thanks to the “David Beckham” brand.

Speaking of Ronaldo and Messi, it’s been argued that Ronaldo is a bigger brand than Lionel Messi. That argument is certainly not hinged on their performances on the football pitch but rather life outside the pitch. And even if you’re on the other side of the fence, you only need to think about how Ronaldo’s move to Juventus impacted not just his club but also the Italian Serie A. According to CNBC, Juventus sold over $60 million worth of Ronaldo’s jersey within 24 hours of the footballer joining the club. That is about 520,000 shirts with Ronaldo’s name according to a UK Guardian report quoted by the CNBC. To put things in perspective, shirt sales in the 2016/ 2017 season was 850,000 units.

In the same vein, since the 2012 London Olympics which brought Joshua to the limelight, his winning streak has drawn attention to and reignited interest in the heavyweight division of boxing. Although Joshua had said boxing saved him, prior to his last fight he was described in some quarters as ‘the saviour of the heavyweight division.’

Back home, Austin “Jay Jay” Okocha is a great footballer turned brand. Years after retirement, he is just as relevant as he was in his active years. Whether it is sports analyses or endorsing a company or supporting an organisation which promotes football, everyone wants to work with Jay Jay. He became famous for his skill but those who continue to work with him say the man has character. Like it or not, the fondness most Nigerians feel for Alex Iwobi is partially a ripple effect of the “Jay Jay” brand.

Not all athletes become sports brands but all sports brand are great athletes. It takes winning, and Joshua had a record of 22 victories before Ruiz Jr. And he had defeated heavyweight powerhouses such as Wladimir Klitschko. It also takes the right character and a carefully curated story off-the pitch, off-the-court and outside-the-ring to build a brand. So, the “gram” matters.

However, Joshua is more than that. For instance, prior to his 2018 fight against Alexander Povetkin, AJ helped raise funds for Key4Life, an award-winning charity aiming to reduce gang crime and youth offending in London and the South West. This week, Joshua and Prince Harry showed their support at the launch of Made by Sport — a campaign that seeks to use sport to help disadvantaged young people. It is for these reasons that he received another honour, OBE (Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) for his services to sport although previously awarded an MBE (Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) after he claimed an Olympic gold in the super heavyweight division at London 2012.

I truly wish AJ the best and hope he can regain his titles. And if he doesn’t, we must all remember that nobody stays a champion forever. Whatever the case, preserving the brand is important because even after retirement, the brand continues to pay.

Featured Image Credit: Sky Sports