In just under four years after its creation, Derek Jeter's The Players' Tribune (TPT) is announcing its first major studio collaboration and including three prominent athletes in the collaboration. TPT is linking up with Amazon Prime Video to support Amazon's launch of an upcoming series called Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan, and has tapped WWE superstar Ronda Rousey, Philadelphia 76ers All-Star Joel Embiid as well as San Francisco 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman to assist in promotional efforts.
Sherman has been the most active of the athletes on the TPT platform to date, recently using the platform as a medium to explain his negotiation process with the 49ers after spending his entire NFL career with the Seattle Seahawks. He, Embiid and Rousey will share their "unexpected hero stories" through TPT-produced content -- a minimum of seven videos posted from July 18 through August 28 -- beginning at the Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan experience at San Diego Comic-Con and leading up to the launch of the new Amazon Prime show.
The partnership is important for TPT as it seeks out new revenue streams and opportunities to tap into its exhaustive database of athlete contributors. It has thus far relied on branded and sponsored content to cover some of its costs, but clearly shifted to thinking about different sources of revenue earlier this year when it delcared that it would pivot to entertainment content and licensing efforts.
"We’re driving through the process of figuring out different ways of diversifying our revenue because we’re not going to live in a world where ad-only businesses are going to succeed the most," said TPT CEO Jeff Levick in April. "The goal of every quarter is to show our revenue mix diversifying."
Brokering a relationship with Amazon is a big step in accomplishing Levick's stated goals. If Amazon is pleased with the results of the partnership, then TPT may be able to use this model consisting of TPT procuring the talent, developing the creative for videos and distributing content (including required athlete deliverables through their respective social channels) with other studios as well.
Neither TPT nor Amazon was willing to comment on the specifics of the financials of their deal.
Darren Heitner is the Founder of South Florida-based HEITNER LEGAL, P.L.L.C. and Sports Agent Blog. He authored the book, How to Play the Game: What Every Sports Attorney Needs to Know.
