Welcome to Last Week’s Wins #13! The end of 2020 is another week closer.
It has also been another week filled with purpose. The NBA is getting back up to speed, Sarah Fuller scored for Vandy, the Cleveland Baseball Team is looking for a new name, and new partnerships deals and investments are being announced daily.
Thanks for starting your week strong with Win-Win-Win!
WINS THIS WEEK
Burger King becomes Burger Queen in Soccer Sponsor Deal
Antoine Griezmann Ends Partnership with Huawei
Lebron: TIME’s Athlete of the Year
WHY THESE WINS MATTER
BURGER QUEEN SPONSORSHIP
Burger King is doing what it takes to prove that the brand is authentic and truly behind it’s decisions. The fast-food giant announced the equal sponsorship investment for the Stevenage FC Men’s and Women’s soccer teams, a 3rd/4th division club in England.
In 2019, Burger King announced a partnership with the Stevenage Men’s team that focused on creating the largest online club community. The #StevenageChallenge had FIFA players all over the world wearing Burger King inspired uniforms and taking the brand to virtual global glory.
Now, the Burger King has been joined by the Burger Queen. In addition to becoming the team’s first sponsor, Burger King actually rebranded it’s Stevenage site as Burger Queen!
For a team that had no shirt sponsor last year, it is clear how the club will benefit from this opportunity. This gender-neutral sponsorship from Burger King/Queen can and should be replicated in business models around the world.
"The women's team faces the same challenges and hurdles as the men's team, and it's only fair that it receive the same support from our brand with an equal sponsorship." - Soco Nunez, Burger King UK Marketing Director
You have read many times in this Substack about the power of authenticity and purpose. This deal fits the criteria for a Three-Win partnership. Burger King is utilizing the brand to empower women and to build a community.
"It gives us the opportunity to really show young female players that they are as entitled to play this game with the same support, to the same level, and the same infrastructure as the men and boys." - Joe Goude, Stevenage Women Chairman
“Playing for Stevenage is hard, playing for the Women’s team shouldn’t be harder.”
GRIEZMANN ENDS PARTNERSHIP
Antoine Griezmann, Forward for FC Barcelona, ended his affiliation with Chinese tech company, Huawei, after “strong suspicions” of their products being used to repress the Uighurs and other minority Asian groups.
"I take this opportunity to invite Huawei to not just deny these accusations, but to take concrete actions as quickly as possible to condemn this mass repression, and to use its influence to contribute to the respect of human and women's rights in society." - Antoine Griezmann
Griezmann is using his platform to bring attention to the cooperation between Huawei and the Chinese government in their attempt to decrease the Muslim population in China. This is a change from his normal promotion of Huawei phones or his personal TikToks.
It could have been easy for Griezmann to “shut up and dribble”, and cash his endorsement check. However, he decided to stand up and speak out for injustice. In a global sport like soccer, it is encouraging to see players like Griezmann, Mesut Ozil, and Demba Ba stand up for what they believe in despite potential backlash.
LEBRON IS TIME’S ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Congratulations to Lebron James on being TIME’s 2020 Athlete of the Year.
We all have had a very odd year, and Lebron’s year was no exception. In January, he lost one of his best friends, mentor, and idol, in Kobe Bryant. He then became a key figure in the sports industry’s COVID response. His soccer investment, Liverpool FC, won the Premier League. His other ventures this year in media and alcohol are not doing too bad either.
To follow all of that up, he won an NBA title while encouraging a record number of voters to turn out all over the country. He also managed a league boycott and other crucial conversations like the Players’ Union discussion with President Obama.
Lebron lived this year passionately and was willing to do whatever it took to achieve his goals. Through all of the negativity, Lebron stayed focused towards his mission.
Lebron is the embodiment of inspiration for the next generation. That is evident through many actions, including the fact that his TIME cover page was painted by a 14 year old artist.
“In the Black community, we always hear the notion of ‘We want to see change,’ but we rarely actually go out and try to help and call for action, actually do it. So I can say that my Black people and my Black communities, they actually went out and said not only did they want change, they actually went out and did it.” - Lebron James
Thank you again Lebron for everything you have done in 2020.
Also, thank you to all in sports & entertainment who work everyday to make the world a better place. The work did not start this year, and it will not end this year or next. But the stones laid down will create an impact, drive more change, and leave a legacy.