Drake’s Raptors gig to boost team profile
Toronto-born rapper’s new ‘global ambassador’ role expected to infuse brand with new energy
Moments after the Toronto Raptors announced he would become the team’s “global ambassador,” homegrown hiphop star Drake joked that his royal blue suit clashed with the more neutral colours chosen by the executives with whom he shared the dais at the Air Canada Centre.
But from the ankles down, the 26-yearold actor-turned-rapper was already dressed for his next role as a sports executive, with the loafers- sans- socks look favoured by Blue Jays president Paul Beeston.
On Monday, the team announced it would the 2016 NBA All-Star Game, which the club thinks will generate $100 million in economic impact. Drake will play a key role in organizing and hosting the event.
And if the rapper’s amorphous job title means anything, it signals that the 2013 Best Rap Album Grammy winner will do to the Raptors’ reputation what he did to the news conference’s fashion sense — infuse new energy while retaining what’s familiar.
As much as the struggling Raptors will benefit from a marketing alliance with one of hip-hop’s most popular performers, some experts think Drake’s personal brand receives an even bigger boost.
Last week, Forbes ranked Drake 11th on its list of top-earning rap stars, estimating he earned $10.5 million (U.S.) last year.
The recent release of his third fulllength album, Nothing Was The Same, will push his earnings figures higher, but working with the Raptors helps position Drake for life after rap stardom.
“It puts Drake in a place where we’ve never really seen him,” says Chicago-based sports marketing consultant Quency Phillips. “It opens him up to a sports audience that isn’t his crowd right now . . . Drake is respected by a lot of the key ball players.”
On Monday, a news conference at the Air Canada Centre celebrated Drake’s partnership with the team as well as the all-star game. But his dayto-day function in the Raptors’ front office remains unclear.
While Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment CEO Tim Leiweke joked about Drake having an office down the hall, the rapper acknowledged his hectic schedule makes it tough for him to pitch in on the daily challenge of marketing a club that hasn’t made the playoffs since 2008.
“I won’t be able to be in the building every day, but I’m extremely dedicat- ed to it,” Drake said. “I do take it very seriously as a new job and a new chapter in my life. It’s not just something for the sake of all the cameras. . . . We’ll figure it out.”
Still, franchise valuation expert Drew Dorweiler says that given Drake’s appeal among people under 30, the Raptors’ bottom line can benefit by simply having him record an occasional promotional song.
Hiring Drake might not make the Raptors a more valuable franchise tomorrow, but it might boost the club’s worth long-term — especially if his celebrity helps attract big-name free agents who can transform the team into a winner.
“Incremental revenues are probably offset by whatever Drake is being paid,” says Dorweiler, managing partner at the Montreal-based valu- ation firm Dartmouth Partners. “But that coupled with the overall package . . . certainly could boost attendance and boost revenues. It could be the beginning of a well-thoughtout turnaround program. It could greatly enhance value several years down the road.” Drake’s friendships with NBA stars like LeBron James are well-known, but leveraging those relationships for the Raptors’ benefit isn’t that simple. The Raptors wouldn’t verify whether Drake is on the team’s payroll, but a team employee hitting nightclubs with another club’s players might expose the Raptors to the NBA’s anti-tampering rules.
Phillips points out that for all his fame, Drake still lacks the gravitational pull Jay Z has exhibited while running his sports agency, ROC Nation Sports, luring stars like NFL receiver Victor Cruz and New York Yankee Robinson Cano away from established agents. Jay Z was also a minority owner of the New Jersey Nets and played a role in moving the club to Brooklyn, but sold his stake after opening his sports agency. While athletes might align themselves with Jay Z because they see him as a role model, Phillips says those players consider Drake a peer. “Jay Z brings his brand and his legacy,” says Phillips, CEO of the Que Agency. “Drake is their favourite rapper right now. Jay Z is bigger than the (hip-hop) industry. Drake is cool to party with and I like his songs, but am I going to have the same reverence (that I have for Jay Z)? No.”