Sports commercialisation: A tool for economic prosperity

I love the speed of the game, the über-competitive “winner takes all” fierceness of professional sports. I respect the work behind the game and everything that occurs prior to show-time. I understand the passion and the craving of cultivating a razor-sharp skill set and the self-expectation of peak performance.

This intense level of putting into something what you want to get out was never more real to me than when I represented my countryin the African Junior National Basketball championships where we took home the gold. It was also very real when I left this country, little more than 18 years ago, to play the game in the United States. My love of basketball and its uncanny way of teaching life lessons afforded me the opportunity to earn a bachelor’s degree in Communications, Advertising, and Public Relations.Basketball afforded me a career.

For the past 12 years, I have worked as an NBA certified sports agent and partner at one of the top sports management firms in the United States. I am the only certified NBA agent of note from Africa. I have supported and/or represented more than 100 U.S.  and European players. My experience is not limited by geography – my work is global. I have helped to build the brands for Yao Ming in China, Steve Nash in Canada, Hasheem Thabeet in Tanzania, Joakim Noah in Cameroon, and several others. My brand building work included merchandizing across sectors, collaborating with key stakeholders, and bringing innovative solutions to move past challenges.

Despite my international schedule, I have come back home to Nigeria semi-annually to host basketball camps. The goal in hosting basketball camps for kids is to reach out and help children realize and achieve their dreams through the momentum of their own passion for the game. In this same vein, I am proud to have been involved in helping more than a hundred kids get to the United States where they can make their dreams material. For example, Ugo Okam graduated this year from top-rated Harvard University while on a sports scholarship.

Through free enterprise, sports and entertainment are multi-billion dollar industries contributing significantly tothe economic development of those countries that cultivate the opportunity. In Nigeria, the government promotes and pays for sports and entertainment instead of promoting privatization and free enterprise in the sectors. The perception of these industries, especially professional sports, is that it is only for those who cannot succeed in higher education or business.  On the other hand, in the United States the profession and the industry as a whole are highly commercial and respected. All those involved from the players and coaches to the owners and even the referees receive anything from semi-celebrity to super-celebrity status. I am talking about an elite group of professionals who are an integral part of society often earning more than many professionals.

It has been my own experience, as a sports agent and former basketball player in Nigeria, that the perception of sports its not one of excellence. As a kid my family could not understand my passion. They did not agree with my desire to play what they termed, “a game with meaningless opportunity.” With both of my parents having PhDs, a sister a medical doctor, and two brothers, engineers, I suffered greatly to follow my dream. I suffered, not because I was not intelligent enough to pursue those highly respected careers but because I had a fire inside that was only satisfied on the basketball court. There are others with this same passion.

My former client and NBA player Obinna Ekezie, who is the owner of Wakanow, is a prime example of intelligence and entrepreneurial grit. My current client Festus Ezeli, the only Nigerian born player in the NBA, currently plays for the Golden State warriors and attendedstudied medicine at the Vanderbilt University. The men, women, boys, and girls who play sports are more than capable and are often more motivated to succeed in the face of adversity. 

The industry is not just for uneducated kids and street urchins. Sports teach kids from early age about teamwork, perseverance, winning and losing, discipline, and many other lessons that can be applied throughout their lives.Playing sports can translate to education, business, opportunity, and advantage. People like Obinna Ekezieand I have leveraged the game as a conduit to access other streams of income and success.

Ugo Udezue