On January 4, 2022, YouTubers and influencers Logan Paul, who is American, and KSI, who is British announced on a live Instagram feed that they had founded a new drinks company known as Prime Hydration
So who are these guys and why do they matter?
We'll start with Logan. He has about 98 million followers across his social networks - over 23 million subscribers on YouTube - and has ranked on the Forbes list for the highest paid YouTube creators in 2017, 2018, and 2021
He is a signed WWE wrestler having had decent success at the sport growing up and has fought celebrity boxing fights with Floyd Mayweather and others.
While many saw it as a gimmick, the Mayweather fight drew over 1 million Pay Per View buys.
📸 Getty
Born to a Nigerian father and British mother, Olajide Olayinka Williams "JJ" Olatunji (born 19 June 1993), known professionally as KSI, is an English YouTuber, rapper and boxer.
He is a co-founder and member of the British YouTube group known as the Sidemen.
KSI has over 40 million youtube subscribers and over 20 million followers on Instagram and Twitter.
The Sidemen have a combined social media following of roughly 138.7 million and have amassed 37.9 billion total video views.
They are massive
Back to PRIME
There are two variations of the drink. PRIME Hydration and PRIME energy.
The hydration version of Prime is not an energy drink as it does not contain caffeine nor does it contain sugar. Instead, it is sweetened with aspartame.
PRIME Energy drink is a potent energy drink and contains 200mg of caffeine.
For comparison, one mug of instant coffee contains around 100mg of caffeine it comes with a safety warning for under 18's and pregnant / nursing women.
So why do your kids want it and why is it so expensive?
The primary audiences of both KSI and Logan Pal are kids or young adults aged between 13 and 24.
They are also the biggest target audience for PRIME Hydration which has a 34% engagement rate for their social content.
The viral campaigns have seen incredible views.
The two short videos below have a combined 31 million views and one is a direct comparison to a competitor brand.
But the key to the cost is scarcity
With so many kids wanting a taste of PRIME, stocks are constantly in low supply. Whether the company deliberately does this has been debated but is unproven.
Stores in the UK have seen stampedes and even resorted to implementing customer purchase limits.
A black market has even emerged in the UK among kids selling the influencer-fronted drink Prime. Kids unable to find PRIME in stores have driven a resale market with markups exceeding 500%
In South Africa, some @TAKEALOT stores are selling PRIME for north of R1000
Financially, PRIME has been a huge success.
In January, the company made $45 million according Logan Paul and 2022 saw them take in $250 million in retail sales
It's marketed as an energy drink and they aim to drive global growth through partnerships such as being the Official Hydration Partner of both Arsenal and the UFC
PRIME is here and it's growing.
If you like this type of content, we provide African sports business insight and news on a daily basis and also write a weekly newsletter on the business of sport on the African continent.
Many have asked why there is silence on the Royal AM sale despite the promise of an outcome on Monday..
Here's a quick thread breaking down what's happening and the next steps
🧵
First let's wrap what's being sold here..
There are three things..
First is the position status or Membership in the National Soccer League (NSL), including the right to participate in PSL competitions.
The second is Assets, these are:
Player contracts (registered with NSL).
Goodwill, business and brand names.
Contracts, sponsorships, slogans, emblems, logos, trademarks and grant funds due from NSL (R2 million a month after tax)
- SA tourism mandate & performance
- Did Rwanda make money from Arsenal and PSG deals
- Cost compared to other deals
- Breaking down each year of the deal
- Key leverage rights
THREAD
The furore surrounding the proposed sleeve sponsorship of the English Premier League (EPL) football club Tottenham Hotspur (Spurs) by South Africa Tourism (SAT) is still raging.
There are many parts to this but we'll concentrate on the SA Tourism mandate and the deal
SAT is the official marketing agency of the National Department of Tourism. It's mandate is the effective marketing of South Africa as a domestic and international tourist destination.
They identify target markets for growth and have global offices from which they operate
Juventus handed a 15 point deduction and directors banned
Club found to have falsely inflated the value of players and misrepresented losses. Last year's financials showed losses of €254 million, the highest ever in Italian football.
The most cited example in the reported 42 suspicious Juve transfers being looked at by the FIGC is last year's deal between the 36-time Italian champions and Barcelona which saw Miralem Pjanic move to Catalonia and Arthur Melo go the other way.
Arthur was valued at €72 million and Pjanic €60 million, but even though nowhere near that amount of cash was paid both clubs could immediately book the values of the sales on their balance sheets.
20-25% of all new gym memberships are signed in January but almost all of the newbies fall off the wagon, making established gym companies highly profitable.
This is the business of fitness and nutrition 🏃♂️💪
THREAD 🔽
When it comes to attendance, stats show that gym memberships have increased over the years. In South Africa, for example, the number of Virgin Active gym memberships has grown from 497,000 in December 2021 to 587,000 in October 2022.
📸 Virgin Active Year To Date Membership
Virgin has 236 clubs in eight countries including Italy, the UK, Australia, Singapore and Thailand. It boasts approximately 905,000 adult members, with 66% of those based in South Africa. It has approximately 133 gyms across the country.
In November 2022 alone, hesgoal.com had over 100 million site visits 😳 then it was shut down ❌
Illegal sports streaming is made up of many complex layers and broadcasters are trying their hardest to fight back.
But is this a battle they can win?
THREAD ⬇️
A study conducted by the Digital Citizens Alliance estimated that illegal streaming costs the sports industry $3.3-billion a year. This figure includes not only lost revenue from advertisers and subscriptions, but also the cost of producing and airing the sports events themselves
Another study, conducted by the Sports Video Group, found that illegal streaming cost the sports industry $1.5-billion in lost revenue in 2018. This study did not take into account the cost of producing the events or other potential losses.
The history
The money and Mayweather contract
The other promoter
The postponement
THREAD 🧵
I begin this with full disclosure.
I am not affiliated in any way with the tournament, the King, Floyd Mayweather or the event organisers.
This thread was compiled through independent research as well as through my sources in sports business.
Let's go..
The late Isilo Samabandla, King Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu, had a dream of "seeing the youth involved in social cohesion programs to empower the youth.
He had intended to create a boxing tournament in KZN and was involved in the design of the Bayede Championship belt