LIFE used to be much simpler when athletes only played sports, wealthy people owned the teams, famous restaurateurs ran the popular nightspots and none of the three groups ventured onto another’s turf.
But in this age of $100 million contracts for superstars, of athletes as pop culture brands, and of media outlet brand extension, you often can’t tell the players from the restaurant owners from the networks from the team owners.
And those blurred lines are starting to produce some interesting scenes.
Next month, for example, Wayne Gretzky is expected to make the scene as ESPN opens its 42,000-square-foot flagship restaurant, ESPN Zone, in Times Square. Gretzky, who is likely to be among the 20 greatest athletes of the century when the sports network unveils its list at the opening, will step from his limo and walk up the red carpet into the eatery and help the sports-themed saloon create a happening and draw crowds of tourists and locals to its tables.
But Gretzky, years ago, invested millions of dollars and a lot of his reputation – including that huge photo of him over the door – in the All-Star Cafe, which happens to be two blocks from the future ESPN Zone locale and happens to be a direct competitor of the new eatery.
It’s like Kmart barker Rosie O’Donnell shopping at Wal-Mart or Lee Iacocca driving a Ford minivan.
And to make matters even murkier, Gretzky’s All-Star Cafe investment is heading south. Its parent company, Planet Hollywood, filed for bankruptcy protection last week, and there are rumors that the World Wrestling Federation is interesting in buying the chain.
So you’d think the Great One would be really interested in bringing in some business to the All-Star Cafe. After all, he promised to endorse and promote the hamburger and chicken finger joint as part of his overall deal with the company.
Gretzky isn’t the only athlete caught in the investment pickle.
Michael Jordan, the most successfully marketed athlete of his generation, and a former pro basketball player of some note, is said to be of a mind to skip the ESPN Zone gala despite being a lock for the Top Five athletes of all time.
While Jordan staying out of town as the rest of the sports world ogles over ESPN’s three floors of fun might be tied to a long-standing previous engagement, as they say, some think his decision is based on a different set of financial considerations.
Jordan owns a restaurant of his own down the block at Grand Central Terminal. Jordan never gave away any points on the court and isn’t expected to start giving away points, or dollars, off it.
“Sorry,” he might have said, “it’s a school night and I have to drive my kids to school the next morning. But keep me in mind for your next opening.”
Shaquille O’Neal and Andre Agassi also are investors in the All-Star Cafe. Will they make cameo sat the ESPN Zone down the road?
Boomer Esiason is an announcer for ABC’s Monday Night Football, in the same corporate family as ESPN. He sells his own Boomer’s BBQ Sauce at Rusty’s Sports Bar in Nashville, with some of the proceeds going to charity. Can he get away with mentioning this rival saloon when those who sign his paycheck run their own similar joint?
It’s the beginning of a new world for sports-business superstars, a world where everyone in the business soon will have to check to see if going to dinner at a particular restaurant, or selling a certain product in a popular store, is OK with the boss.
