Inspiring the stars
Tony Robbins shines a light on sports psychology, athletes listen
Tony Robbins is a pretty good predictor of success, and he has a vision for the evolution of sports. It involves technology as a major part of a new dawn and himself being a serious player on the financial side.
He enjoys changing the way athletes think about their sports with his regular work as a life coach, and as of late he has also become consumed by improving the way you watch elite-level games and events.
Thanks to his friendship with Golden State Warriors owner Peter Guber, Robbins got involved as an the initial stakeholder of Los Angeles FC, which will become Major League Soccer’s newest team when it begins play next season. The investment group is an all-star cast of business and entertainment heavyweights, including Magic Johnson, sports power couple Mia Hamm and Nomar Garciaparra and Will Ferrell.
“The challenge, just like any business, is going in there and figuring out how do you add more value to the community and how do you create raving fan clients,” Robbins said. “What do you do for the payers and how do you recruit them and bring them on board? Especially when you’re a new franchise like this?”
The organization plans to do things a little differently and boasts that its Banc of California Stadium will be the most hightech in MLS, from anti-glare roofing to seating steeped for maximum noise retention and rows of charging stations for electronic vehicles.
“How do you make sure that with all this technology, if you’re going to a stadium like we’re doing in downtown L.A., that it is going to be something that is going to create an experience,” Robbins added. “Just being there lights you up as well as the performance and the people.”
Robbins’ primary home is in Palm Beach, Fla., and he plans to fly in to watch LAFC in action. He’ll be looking to see how the team, which figures to make an early splash and has already signed Mexican star Carlos Vela, performs on the field but also how it caters to its new fan base.
Robbins says he thinks there are avenues for the viewing spectacle of sports to take quantum leaps.
He recently became involved with NextVR, a virtual reality platform whereby the viewer, for example, feels as if they are sitting courtside or field level at a game. Robbins talks excitedly about the latest phase, whereby one fan in New York and another in Los Angeles can watch a game taking place in Dallas and chat with each other as if they were seated inches apart. Soon, he claims, the technology will allow for hepatic touch — so that a viewer could have the virtual sensation of feeling what they can see. Next after that, will be virtual reality contact lenses.
Meanwhile, his connections in sports continue to grow. He has partnered with Johnson before the LAFC project — they are both co-owners of Team Liquid, a high-powered and successful eSports gaming team. That and LAFC have given him the desire to get involved in even more athletic projects.
He casually drops into the conversation that he’d like to have part ownership stakes in four different sports before too long and says he’s already in talks with at least two.