Recently I’ve had the pleasure of sitting down with the guys from Athlete Factor, finding out more about what one our adidas athletes gets up to away from the rugby field.
England International and former Stade Francais player James Haskell is someone who has taken to the new opportunities that social media and the world of apps has to offer enthusiastically. These opportunities for athletes to take control of the exclusive content they can produce are there for those who decide to grasp the bull by the horns and could be a sound investment for the future.
He already has a very active and popular Twitter account of some 20,000 and a dedicated Facebook Group. One thing you find out quite quickly is that he enjoys being in front of the camera (or phone in most cases) but rather than post straight to YouTube or Vimeo he has taken a different route.
Rather than have a disparate collection of online platforms he has worked with Athlete Factor to bring these all into one place, his iPhone app. Here is James to explain what it is all about….
The company also work with golfers Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood, with both having very similar looking ‘exclusive’ apps. What this new direction does allow the athlete is control, the ownership of the content they are producing that could be distributed around new networks, and anyone else interested in the content, and thus creating an extra revenue stream.
James is the one who seems to have taken to the idea the most and produced by far the most content. This is not only little clips of his games or him talking to camera, we are looking at training tips, dietary advice, behind the scenes and updates from just after games. If you are a fan of rugby and interested in what a player does away from the pitch and you’re not getting your fill from Facebook or Twitter this could be for you.
MD of Athlete Factor, Adam McVicar, sums it up; “The Callisto platform enables athletes to have their own broadcast platform, uniquely branded with 100% control over the content delivered. The creation of the content is simple but most importantly a direct channel from the athlete to their fans. Twitter feeds, photos, videos, latest news and the exclusive voice and video content are all pulled together and delivered via a mobile application.”
Is this the future of professional sports people and other celebrities in digital? What do you think….
http://itunes.apple.com/app/james-haskell-athlete-factor/id397133260?mt=8
Hi Joe, thanks for your thoughts. The idea of the major players taking control of their content and creating another revenue stream is certainly something I think is just round the corner. Why not make your big transfer announcement on your app or page instead of a pR release. Look what Shaq O'Neill did with his retirement announcement, totally side stepping traditional media so they were reporting on what we already knew. Be interesting to see how the clubs, governing bodies, etc handle it. Dan
Interesting post, and in fact something that i have written about before over on my own blog here
http://goodtweetsforabigman.posterous.com/the-ris….
It will be interesting to see how many athletes look to take full ownership rights of their content. Both Barcelona and Real Madrid can individually sell their media rights (making a mockery of UEFA's FFP rules but that's a whole different story) and i do wonder whether with individuals such as Ronaldo and Messi who have 20m odd fans will look to this as a potential revenue stream, bypassing traditional media outlets and going straight to their fans.