Jeff Munneke, VP of Fan Experience

Next Friday we are back with a new Locker Room Sports Community model that I've designed to better serve athlete business owners, our sports business members, and sports focused non-profits. A limited number of sports related non-profit organizations that serve kids will receive membership at no cost. Please reach out for information on how to apply. In order to support our non-profits, we focus on creating partnerships with athletes, sports industry companies, and other non-profits in order to impact more kids. Our athlete business owners and sports business members will be coming together to help our non-profits through fundraising events, volunteerism, and cause marketing campaigns. Personally, I’m stepping into finding purpose in pain, and making a difference in the lives of kids is how I do that. I’m dedicating myself to using my sports business projects to generate funds for further research into early onset bipolar and using my platform to create awareness of this poorly understood condition. Bipolar that starts as a young child is more severe and complex than adult onset bipolar, and the life outcomes are worse. Since childhood, this condition has ruined my life more times and in more ways than I can count. I will consider my life a waste if I can’t find a way to help other kids not end up like me. 

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In my upcoming book, Inside Nike Elite Youth Basketball (EYB), I dedicate a chapter to explaining the origins of two pivotal names: SEAL, which stands for Supervised Elite Athlete Leaders, and SCOUT, representing Supreme Court Observers Uncovering Talent. This chapter delves into the reasoning behind these designations for the pro and college basketball groups, as well as the EYB cohort. 🏀

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I'm so proud of our Raidiant team and the work we do to present Calling All Heroes, one of the largest esports tournaments for women on the planet. These viewership numbers are staggering, with upwards of 60K people watching at any given time. The impact we're making for women and marginalized genders is unmatched. And yet - we struggle to find partners. Honest question - why is that? The amazing partners that we do have recognize that we provide scale, credibility and a meaningful way to reach new communities. Isn't that what marketing is all about - finding new eyeballs to sample and drive loyalty and conversions to your product? These tournaments are the perfect way to "sample" an esports partnership, offering a low-risk, high-reward opportunity to gain the numerous benefits that engaging with this audience can bring to a brand. I have thoughts and I'm genuinely curious for yours (and may be opening up a rabbit hole, but here goes...). With these numbers, why does women's esports struggle to find the right partners - especially given where we are now with traditional sports?

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