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After ending his 20-year career in baseball , MLB legendary star and New York Yankees captain Derek Jeter founded the Player Tribune in 2014, using a brand new information sharing method to create a precedent for athletes to independently establish media, guide public opinion, produce media content, and open interaction with sports fans.
original author: Andrew Cohen
original title: Derek Jeter didn’t want to give you a headline,
so he started a media revolution
source: SportTechie
organized | Wang Shentong
Edit | Kaga
Due to needs, the original text was partially deleted and adjusted
Before Derek Jeter founded the "Players Tribune", the United States' way of spreading sports news and sports-related hot events was still mainly based on traditional mainstream media reports. "Players Tribune" was a pioneer for American athletes to create their own media companies.
With the birth of Spring Hill of LeBron James , Kevin Durant Boardroom, Stephen Curry Unanimous Media, Payton Manning Omaha Productions and Tom Brady and Michael Starahan's Religion of Sports, this new media form driven by Jet has blossomed everywhere in the United States and ushered in its heyday.
1.
Legend shortstop Derek Jeter
Jet was born in a baseball family in Petunnock, New Jersey, USA. When he was five years old, he studied baseball under the guidance of his father. Jeter's whole family is a fan of the Yankees, and he grew up in the hustle and bustle of Yankees Stadium. Not only did he wear a Yankees baseball cap in summer, but he had to wear a Yankees scarf in winter, but even his underwear insisted on having a Yankees logo. He regarded outfielder Dave Winfield as his idol, fantasizing that he could become the main player of the Yankees in the future.
When he was in high school, Derek Jeter's baseball talent had already begun to show off. He became a star player in the school baseball team at that time and won many honors and awards. In his last year of high school, as shortstop , he handed out a .580 strike rate, 4 home runs and .637 on-base rate, and was praised by the media at that time as the "strongest high school student".
At that time, Hall of Fame pitcher Haile Newhouse, caught Jeter's potential at first sight and strongly recommended that the Houston Astros, who had the No. 1 pick, keep Jeter, and Astros was worried that the teenage genius would ask for too high prices, so he took the initiative to give up the future superstar. However, it was also the ignorance of the Astros that Jeter was signed by the Yankees in the sixth pick that year, and his childhood dream finally came true.
993, Jeter paid 5 home runs in the minor league 1A, 71 RBI points, 18 stolen , plus an excellent score of .295 strike rate. The next year, this promising young man completed the triple jump to , from an advanced 1A to 3A, and his grades gradually improved. He finally won the minor league Player of the Year awards awarded by Baseball America, Sports News and Topps.
With his excellent performance, Jeter, who was only 20 years old, was recruited into the major league. However, when he first entered the major league, facing the top players in the baseball hall, the nervous Jeter became restricted in both offense and defense. His unsatisfactory performance made him re-delegated to the minor league for training. The Yankees boss at that time was always skeptical of the rookie and planned to replace him like this. Fortunately, he was stopped by the team manager, so the Yankees did not lose the team's future cricket star.
996, due to the decline in Yankees' main shortstop Fernandez, Jeter once again got the chance to stand in the major leagues, and he regarded every hit on the field as the "last blow" of his career. In the regular season of this season, he handed over 10 home base hits, scored 104 points, plus 78 RBIs, and was elected the AFC Rookie of the Year unanimously. In the subsequent playoffs, the Yankees made great progress, and Jeter also maintained their best form. In the end, they defeated Atlanta Warriors in the World Series and won their first world championship since 1978.
From entering the major league in 1995 to announcing his retirement in 2014, Derek Jeter played for the Yankees for nearly 20 years. During this period, he and Yankees have won countless honors, and his personal business acumen and market ability were gradually discovered by everyone in the years before retirement, so it was difficult for anyone to match him in the sports industry. He is the facade of baseball - but he has always been hard to tell the truth when facing journalists in the world's largest media market.
"At that time we could see Derek in the locker room after every game, but he told us nothing," ESPN reporter Marly Rivera said while hosting the Q&A session of the world premiere of the "Captain" documentary series during the Tribeca Film Festival. The guests participating in the Q&A were also Jeter and director Randy Wilkins.
"Their job was to do their best to get a headline message, but I didn't want to give it to them. If I had a cell phone at that time, maybe my career might have been three more years," Jeter said in the "Captain" trailer. The documentary "Captain" that records Derek Jeter has been aired on ESPN and ESPN+ channels after the MLB home run competition.
"No one can hide in full view of everyone like Derek Jeter," said Joel Sherman, a long-time baseball columnist in the "Captain" documentary series.
In today's world of social media, hiding in full view of the public is a greater challenge for athletes and celebrities. Wilkins is a Yankees fan from the Bronx who recorded 30 hours of footage for Jeter's documentary series and interviewed 90 people.
Wilkins said that in this process, the topic that Jeter was most reluctant to talk about was his relationship with his celebrity teammate Alex Rodriguez.
"Jet is one of the greatest contenders in history," Wilkins said at the June 12 premiere. "The reason why he doesn't want to open up to the media is that he doesn't want to be distracted and doesn't want the story to last. I think he could have managed (now the media landscape), although it's more difficult. I think he'll have greater public pressure. But I think he'll do a good job. I mean, to be honest, he's a master in this."
2.
The trend of athletes founding media companies caused by the "Player Tribune"
. In the second half of his career, Jeter began to join social platforms such as Twitter and Instagram. However, as a player, he is full of exclusion towards these social media like traditional media, and these platforms rarely satisfy players.
so in 2014, Jeter founded the Players Tribune in his last season at MLB. This is indeed an innovation, it sets a precedent for starting media companies by athletes, and now it is the most valuable common asset among celebrity athletes’ business assets.
Alex Cirillo, a producer of Captain, said, "Jeter was once famous for protecting his private life from being exposed. Later, he led the "Players Tribune" to give athletes more voice. ”
Influenced by Jeter and his "Players Tribune", Durant founded Boardroom in 2018, and the current scale of this media company is already at the level of thousands of people. Currently, Boardroom focuses on sports, business, culture and entertainment themes, and provides products including website articles, blogs co-hosted by Durant, welcome letters, video content, the teenage basketball series "Swagger" produced for AppleTV+, and other film projects.
Durant's long-term business partner and also co-founder of Boardroom, said, "I have always been paying close attention to how Jeter established the Players' Tribune, and we are also working hard to find ways to work with them more closely. ”
Clayman and Durant are both early investors in the Players Tribune, and the newspaper initially wrote an article from Durant’s first person perspective, "My Next Chapter" in July 2016. This article also led the entire network to announce that Durant is about to leave the Oklahoma City Thunder, become a free agent and sign with the Golden State Warriors . The article of course also made the "Players Tribune" popular at that time, and the change of direction led to Durant's connection with the "Players Tribune".
"I remember Durant was shooting commercials with JJ Watt and Derek Jett. We talked about Kevin becoming a free agent," Kleiman recalled. "Derek came to RV and said, 'You should put this in the Players Tribune.' At that time, it was more about understanding how much things changed and how much control the news and communication are now. But in fact, by meeting people like Jett, we gained real inspiration and realized the power of social platforms. Whether people like it or not, we created a lot of voice, and controlled the 'narration of free agent Durant' through the Players Tribune.' "
Time is coming in July this year, Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka launched her own media company Hana Kuma, which also has a cooperation with SpringHill production company founded by James . James' partner Carter said in an interview with New York Times that SpringHill is very interested in helping other celebrity athletes start their own media companies. Currently, Hana in Osaka Kuma will focus on creating documentaries, Japanese comics and brand content.
In addition to owning SpringHill, James also owns a multimedia production company dedicated to athlete stories. The company is closely related to the Player Tribune. It can even be said that James himself was influenced by the Player Tribune and went online a few months after the newspaper started running.
After that, in 2010, 25-year-old James brought his talent to the South Coast and joined the Miami Heat, making the sports world crazy. In the 12 years since then, SpringHill has produced some feature films, such as "Slam Dunk in the Sky" released by Warner Bros. , starring Adam Sandler, "Hustle" aired on Netflix and "The Crossover" for the upcoming sports series "Disney+."
James and Carter also co-hosted the "The Shop" talk show, and the fifth season will be live on Uninterrupted's YouTube channel. By 2021, Spring Hill's market valuation had reached US$725 million.
Kleiman said to us, “I think what Derek did is create something that is driven by himself.It's all about new media platforms powered by athletes. This platform was established to allow athletes to communicate directly with the community and fan groups and tell their own stories. But James may be the first to start a media company and tell meaningful stories. I think Derek's Players Tribune was an anomaly because the sports platform adopted different approaches and strategies. And now, there are too many such platforms. "
Kleman continued to add, "I think it's time to stop calling these things athlete production companies or athlete media networks." These athletes should have been entrepreneurs, businessmen. For example, our Boardroom has a very three-dimensional architecture, and our content partners include Dapper Labs and Weedmaps. Kevin and I have also invested in more than 75 companies, such as Bitcoin platform Coinbase, Robinhood, personal travel app Future, e-sports company Andbox, as well as media startups Overtime and Just Women’s Sports, etc. Kevin personally also owns shares in United Philadelphia (MLS) and N Gotham Football Club (NWSL, Women’s Football League). What we do is perhaps what athletes should do. "
Jett wrote in his first tweet of the Players Tribune, "I realized I've been too cautious. In my early years, I saw the harshest media environment in the sports world in New York, because asking you questions does not mean you have to answer. My goal in setting up this website is to ultimately change the way athletes and news producers share information, so that fans can get closer to their favorite games than ever before."
Keyman said about this statement. , "What Jet does, the way he calms himself and the way he is self-consistent, are unique. With or without social media, I don't think anyone can do what he does. I think Stephen Curry has a similar reputation as Jet in some ways. He is very outspoken and open, and he lets the public participate in the discussion. I think some of the perceptions of him should be the same as those of Derek."
Kleiman saw the growth of media networks held by athletes, and saw that in the age of social media, the rise of polarization performance and the rise of social trends in misinformation is closely related to it. Although Jeter does not play social media as a player, Durant, who is also a player, will chat online with fans, media experts, and players on Twitter on Twitter. Durant is known to even send replies with his hot anonymous tweet trumpet.
"They are completely different people, and I feel they have grown up from completely different times," Kleiman said of Jeter and Durant. "I think a lot of the time, you'll see young boys and girls growing up in an era of constantly dealing with unknown behavior. Given the perfect storm of social media and the prosperity of NBA culture and NBA Twitter, there are a few players who have actually received no one's heartfelt attention and attention."
" When Kevin left for Oklahoma City, if I tell you on what you've seen, he was talking about him and about him. What he experienced in terms of his way - it's more important than basketball. I think we finally look back at this era and realize that some players have stood up for themselves. Going back in the past, even when Jeter played, because your reading depends on print media. So you can't go on Twitter, you have to deal with it in this way. People may think it's a joke - new media, old media - but it's a sign of these things that have happened for a long time. There's really too much fake news now, and it's obviously more important than sports, and it can cause problems." Kleiman recalls.
Of course, there are many athletes who founded new media companies, such as NFL star players Brady and Starahan's "Religion of Sports", which raised $50 million in June this year. Investors include Elysian Park Venture Capital, a fund founded by the owners of the MLB Los Angeles Dodgers. But MLB players are generally absent from the field of athletes holding media, probably because their own media brands have gained traction.
Like Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, Shohei Otani and Aaron Judge, these stars are not short of sponsors, but none of them can fully embrace the new media trend like other top league stars.
This imbalance also shows that eight years after Jeter ended his career and ended with a goodbye home run with a story-like ending, baseball has not yet cultivated the next "Jeter Second Generation" with extraordinary cross-border charm, and this man has left journalists with only a desire for good works.
At the premiere of Jeter's documentary Captain, some viewers said, "Derick has captured a lot of things throughout his career, whether on the court or off the court, which makes him unique. Through Derek, you can tell the story of American culture. Derek is not only a great baseball player, but also an American cultural idol. He tells us about himself and also about ourselves. So that's the intention of this film."
At the premiere of the Tribeca Film Festival Captain, when Jeter took the stage at this theater in Lower Manhattan, the audience couldn't help but clap and shouted "DER-EK" JET-ER”, the sound echoed at Yankee Stadium for nearly 20 years.
