Miller signs multi-fight deal with TapouT
April 13, 2012
UFC lightweight contender Jim Miller has signed a multi-fight deal with TapouT and will sport the brand in the main event of his fight May 5th on UFC on Fox 3 according to his representatives. In addition, TapouT will donate a percentage of limited edition t-shirts to the Daniel James Miller Foundation – a charity set up by Miller to support his nephew.
Via press release:
TapouT’s 2012 ‘#MYFIGHTMATTERS’ campaign has been trending recently with supporters Tweeting why their unique struggles are important. In the case of Jim Miller, this notion hits particularly close to home. “My 2 year old nephew, Daniel, suffers from recessive polycystic kidney disease (PKD). I fight everyday to raise money and be there for Daniel so that he has the care and support that he needs. That’s why my fight matters.”
For his May battle against Nate Diaz, TapouT is creating a limited edition ‘MY FIGHT MATTERS’ shirt and will donate a percentage of the proceeds to the Daniel James Miller Foundation. The shirt will be sold exclusively on TapouT.com.
In the video clip below, Miller discusses the foundation set up for his nephew:
Payout Perspective:
You may recall Miller recently signed a deal with Bass Pro Shops. The TapouT sponsorship is another good deal for both fighter and sponsor. Not only is it another sponsorship for Miller, it also is tailored to bring awareness to a cause close to Miller. For TapouT, it is able to tie in its current #MyFightMatters campaign while assisting a charitable cause.
Hitman-TapouT lawsuit heating up
March 19, 2012
A lawsuit involving the former owner of Hitman Fight Gear and TapouT/Authentic Brands Group is heating up. MMA Payout has obtained the lawsuit which was filed in Orange County Superior Court in California.
Earlier this month, the lawsuit, filed in 2011, was leaked to the MMA blogosphere. The lawsuit, filed by Daniel Diaz, is a salacious look at the purported inner dealings behind the TapouT brand and its eventual purchase by Authentic Brands Group (ABG)
The Lawsuit
According to the lawsuit, filed on March 29, 2011, Daniel Diaz, founder of MMA clothing brand Hitman Fight Gear is suing TapouT, ABG and other related entities as a result of claimed promises and a business deal which did not go Diaz’s way. Diaz is also suing as a member of Fight Industries, LLC (F1) (known as a derivative lawsuit where a shareholder can bring suit on behalf of the company).
Diaz’s lawsuit alleges 12 causes of action (including 4 on behalf of F1) which includes: Breach of Fiduciary Duty, Conversion, Aiding and Abetting Breaches of Fiduciary Duty for Fiduciary Gain, Fraudulent Conveyance, Breach of Employment Contract – Wrongful Termination, Unpaid Wages, Unfair Business Practices for Personal Gain and Fraud in the Inducement.
The Alleged Facts
According to the lawsuit, Diaz and his brother established “Hitman Fight Gear” in 2001. In addition, Diaz did freelance design for other brands including TapouT. In 2005, Diaz entered into a contract with Russell Lin on behalf of a brand named Roxwell. Diaz would receive a 10% commission “on anything Roxwell made for TapouT” according to the lawsuit. Diaz’s lawsuit alleges that his designs under Roxwell for TapouT were a success and his income was “steadily increasing.”
The lawsuit indicates that Marc Kreiner’s role with TapouT affected Diaz’s commissions under the Roxwell contract. According to Diaz, Kreiner attempted to undercut the Roxwell contract by attempting to lower, by 10% the cost of goods on the TapouT-Roxwell contract.
According to the complaint in 2007, Punkass and Kreiner met with Diaz regarding “Hitman Fight Gear” in an attempt to purchase the company. A limited liability corporation, F1, would be set up to purchase Hitman on behalf of TapouT. Diaz agreed to a sale of his company in exchange for 1,125,000 Class B shares of F1 and an employment contract with the company. In addition, Diaz would give up his contract with Roxwell. Diaz claims that he was led to believe that the Hitman brand would be given the backing to become as big as the TapouT brand.
However, Diaz claims that the F1 company was used for the personal benefit of Kreiner. One of the allegations claimed in the lawsuit was that Kreiner was “accepting (indeed, demanding) bribes from vendors of both TapouT and F1.” (page 9 of the lawsuit) The lawsuit alleges a “kickback” scheme which vendors would receive as high as “one dollar per t-shirt which – over the life of the contract – might pay the vendor hundreds of thousands of dollars as a “kickback” to the vendor for providing Kreiner with demanded gifts.” (page 9-10 of the lawsuit).
In addition to this claimed scheme, Diaz alleges the misappropriation of TapouT and F1 funds for Kreiner’s personal use.
Diaz claims that he was not reimbursed for business expenses, which were included in his employment contract, due to the fact that F1 purportedly lacked the money to pay him.
TapouT-ABG transaction
The lawsuit claims that after TapouT and F1 were depleted, the companies were purchased by ABG for the following:
1) the payment of some of the debt Kreiner and Caldwell managed to accumulate through their alleged scheme of skimming cash and other assets out of the company;
2) future cash payments to Kreiner and Caldwell, only, the amounts of which, were to be withheld from Kreiner and Caldwell pending the resolution of remaining creditor claims against those assets
The purported transaction would leave the companies with little or no assets to pay its creditors.
Diaz claims that ABG discovered the conduct claimed by Diaz when ABG conducted its “due diligence” prior to purchasing TapouT and F1. Diaz claims that ABG used this information against TapouT and F1 (and to Diaz’s detriment due to his interest in F1) as leverage in negotiations by driving down the purchase price. In addition, Diaz states that ABG attempted to buy his “silence” through an employment contract with the new ABG TapouT entity. When Diaz refused, he believed that ABG went around Diaz. This led to, as Diaz alleges in the lawsuit, the diminution in value of F1 rendering his shares in the company worthless.
The Underground post
Earlier this month TapouT and ABG went into court seeking the return of stolen documents and disqualifying Diaz’s attorneys. The reason for this was due to an internet posting on MMA.tv (also known to most as The Underground) in which an article was posted which detailed the lawsuit. A link to the article has been taken down. This was about the same time that details of the original lawsuit hit the twittershpere. The internet post was discovered by an attorney for TapouT/ABG and a request to cease and desist was made to Diaz’s attorneys.
Prior to the posting, the parties agreed to a protective order during the discovery process which essentially means that the documents produced to each side would remain confidential. Among the documents produced included information related to the purchase of TapouT. Lawyers for TapouT claim that Diaz published information that were deemed confidential. In addition, TapouT lawyers state that the comments section after the article included information provided by Diaz which only would have been known by those privy to the documents under the protective order.
Some of the information has been released by others via twitter and/or other web sites. Essentially, the inflammatory information Diaz provides relates to the claimed indebtedness of TapouT prior to its sale to ABG. Also, some of the comments include information already identified in the Complaint related to the claims of a “kickback” scheme.
Despite the post and comments section, the court decided against immediate punishment for Diaz. The Minute Order provided by the court stated the order sought by TapouT was denied. The order did not include an explanation.
Payout Perspective:
The lawsuit appears to be heating up and there is a trial date set for this September. The lawsuit is obviously personal for Diaz and the posting on The Underground reflects this. The allegations against TapouT and ABG are serious and there may be more coming out of this lawsuit which may reveal a lot about one of the biggest brands in MMA.
NY Times writes about the MMA generation
March 17, 2012
The New York Times Fashion and Style section this week had a feature entitled, “The Fight Club Generation.” The article details the fascination of MMA with youths to young adults.
The article which reports at a regional MMA card in Atlantic City focuses on youth interest in mixed martial arts. The article refers to the movie “Fight Club” which starred Brad Pitt and Ed Norton as the inspiration for many fans of MMA today. Not sure if this is actually true of most young MMA fans as that movie was filmed in 1999. The mainstream popularity has only occurred in the past few years. The article later devolves with comparisons to the XFL and “The Godfather.”
But, it also identifies, that in general, most people 35 years of age and older are not fans of the sport. In fact, the NY Times states that horse racing and figure skating are more popular than MMA in this segment.
Payout Perspective:
Getting past some of the minutiae in the article, one of the interesting takeaways coming from it is looking at how young fans get interested in the sport. TapouT and Cage Hero are just a couple brands that have marketed MMA toward kids. Last October, Cage Hero rebranded itself with an eye toward kids. Having just attended a Jiu Jitsu tournament today and seeing so many kids under 10 in the sport one can see that grappling, and to a greater degree, MMA is a growing sport. With MMA taking off, it will be interesting to see if the UFC begins to reach out, with more targeted campaigns, to the under 18 demographic.
TapouT to debut new commercial during TUF
March 6, 2012
TapouT is releasing a new commercial which will debut this Friday night during The Ultimate Fighter on FX. The commercial features Chael Sonnen, Gilbert Melendez, Ryan Bader among others.
Payout Perspective:
The commercial supports TapouT’s #MyFightMatters initiative in which the brand offers weekly prizes for those that follow TapouT on twitter and adds the hashtag. Its a good way for brand integration between platforms. The commercial includes its motorsports sponsorship and also includes scenes of baseball. I am not clear of the tie in so if anyone can chime in that would be great.
TapouT-UFC announce new sponsorship deal
February 7, 2012
Longtime sponsor of the UFC, TapouT announced a new multi-year deal with the company and new title as “official lifestyle apparel partner” of the Ultimate Fighting Championships.
Via TapouT/UFC press release:
The multi-year deal gives TapouT exposure at UFC® events broadcast on Pay-Per-View, FX and FUEL TV via canvas logos, bumpers and billboards. In addition, TapouT will present the “Submission of the Night” feature on UFC broadcasts, as well as take part in on-site activation at UFC events globally. The agreement also includes an extensive digital media plan, with TapouT gaining visibility across multiple social media platforms and at UFC.com. Furthermore, TapouT obtains the rights to use “Official lifestyle apparel of UFC” on hangtags, point-of-sale and advertising.
TapouT, which is owned by New York-based ABG Tapout, LLC a division of Authentic Brands Group LLC, has a long history of sponsoring UFC athletes in the Octagon®.
“TapouT has been a big supporter of the sport and its athletes for a long time,” UFC President Dana White said. “We’re excited to have them as our official lifestyle apparel partner as we get ready for some of the biggest years in UFC history.”
“It’s been a dream of ours ever since we watched the first UFC to be an official partner of the best MMA organization in the world,” said TapouT co-founder, Dan “Punkass” Caldwell.
“The UFC is a world class professional sports organization with an aggressive global growth strategy in line with ours,” said James Salter, CEO of Authentic Brands Group. “This partnership with the UFC further reinforces TapouT’s commitment to supporting the sport, its athletes and beloved fans.”
“TapouT and the UFC have had a long standing relationship over the years, which would explain why many fans already consider us as the lifestyle brand of the UFC,” said James Ling, Authentic Brand Group’s SVP of Marketing and Global Brands in an email to MMAPayout. “We made it official so there’s no doubt in the minds of retailers and consumers that TapouT is the leading lifestyle brand in the space.”
“TapouT and the UFC’s goals are in alignment as both continue to expand international reach and market penetration,” Ling added, “As the sport continues to grow and gets further ingrained into mainstream culture, we hope to see more fans wanting to represent the sport they love by supporting the brands that support the sport.”
UFC 140: Payout Perspective
December 15, 2011
Welcome to another edition of Payout Perspective. This week we look at the UFC’s return to Toronto as the UFC made a stop at the Air Canada Center as Jon Jones defended his title against Lyoto Machida.
Jones chokes out Machida
Despite losing the first round, Jon Jones showed resolve to come back and defeat “The Dragon”. Jones used his size to complete a standing guillotine which rendered Machida limp. Up next for Jones will be the winner of Rashad Evans/Phil Davis in January. At this point, Jones looks like he is gaining confidence and looks real comfortable in the Octagon, something to worry about for those in his division.
Mir snaps Big Nog’s shoulder
Frank Mir broke Tim Sylvia’s arm for his black belt and may have earned another stripe for his kimura on Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera. Big Nog had Mir in trouble but Mir was able to gather himself to reverse Noguiera, grabbed his arm and locked in the kimura. The gruesome replay were shown over and over again with the crowd “ooing” each time the arm seemingly snapped.
Zombie surprises Hominick
It took only seconds for the Chang Sung Jung to defeat Canadian favorite Mark Hominick. A disappointing return for Hominick.
Attendance, Gate and Bonuses
As reported earlier in the week 18,303 fans attended for a gate of $3.9 million Canadian ($3.77 million U.S.).According to F4Wonline.com (subscription required), about 15,000 paid although it was not a sell-out. F4WOnline opined that the disappointing turnout may be due to the UFC coming back too fast.
MMA Junkie reported the bonuses for UFC 140 with each receiving $75,000.
KO of the night: The Korean Zombie
Submission of the night: Frank Mir
Fight of the Night: Jones-Machida
Sponsorships
The Octagon included Xyience, Toyo Tires, Dodge, TapouT, Musclepharm, the UFC’s Ultmate DVD Collection, StubHub, Batteflield 3 had the side pads (including graphics) and was on the mat, Bud Light was present on the ring pads and center.
Bony Acai, Harley Davidson and StubHub were presenting sponsors for UFC 140. The U.S. Marines had its usual “mini-fighter” matchup for Jones-Machida.
UFC.com Store owned the fighter prep point.
Harley Davidson is taking part in the UFC Hometown Throwdown promotion which had been previously promoted at other events as well as 140. Similar to the WEC version, it asks fans to pick a city in which they would want the UFC to hold an event. The promotion asks for fans to provide an email address in order to take part. The UFC will email the fans when the final cities are chosen.
Mark Hominick wore the CFL’s Hamilton TiCats gear once again.
Jon Jones wore his Form Athletics jacket in the back and during the walkout.
Brian Ebersole is now sponsored by TapouT as one witnessed via the logo shaved into his chest. He also was sponsored by BuyMMACards.com, which replaced MiddleEasy.com on his shorts.
Logistics company and fight sponsor Blue Grace made subtle changes to its logo including a visible web address for people to see.
Notably, EBX, which is a Brazilian investment company, sponsored the Nogueira brothers. We might expect more Brazilian and South American companies jumping into sponsorship with the upcoming card this January and with TUF: Brazil.
No Suffer on Mir this time as he sported a simple Jaco Hybrid Training Black t-shirt in his walkout.
The Korean Zombie did not wear his popular shirt but a white shirt with his Korean sponsors.
UFCstore.com had the Fighter prep point
More info on walkout wear here.
Jon Jones and Frank Mir broke out Xenergy drinks immediately after their win before their post-fight interview.
Not a lot of notable new sponsors here. The Octagon seemed UFC heavy. Perhaps this is due to the anticipated holiday shopping season. The UFC had indicated that new sponsors would not occur until the first quarter of next year.
Post-UFC 140 Headline
The only real headline coming out of this event is what’s next for Jon Jones. While some wish for a Jones-Anderson Silva matchup, its more likely that Jones face Rashad Evans provided he gets past Phil Davis and stays healthy enough to make it to the showdown.
Odds and Ends
- Tito Ortiz is now calling himself “The People’s Champ.” I thought the Rock was “The People’s Champ?” Copyright issues? Of course, I thought that Marshawn Lynch would have copyrighted “Beast Mode” too.
- UFC Countdown show aired on the Fox Regional Sports Networks as early as Sunday before the fight (according to the Direct TV guide) but either I was not paying attention or there was a lack of notice, but I missed the Countdown show when it was on my RSN. It appeared on the Audience Network later in the week and was online so I was able to catch it. Not sure if anyone else had a problem finding it on their RSN.
Buy Rate
Early estimations on the buy rate for UFC 140 by the Wrestling Observer have it at 440,000 buys in the US and 480,000 buys worldwide. This is a positive considering the UFC’s string of sub-400 PPV buys. It also shows that Jones is beginning to grow as a PPV draw. Jones vs. Rampage did 475,000 buys and it has improved if you take the worldwide buy rate.
Authentic Brands Group sends cease and desist to nonprofit
August 25, 2011
Authentic Brand Group (ABG) recently sent a cease and desist notice to nonprofit Tap Out Cancer for use of the “TapouT” trademark. As a result, the small nonprofit must rename itself.
According to its web site, Tap out Cancer is a nonprofit which raises awareness through the Brazilian Ji Jitsu community. It raises money “[t]hrough merchandise sales, special events, sponsorships and direct donations.” On its web site it noted that it is in not affiliated with TapouT. But, this was not enough to avoid ABG’s request.
When a vendor expressed concern about the nonprofit’s use of the “Tapout” name, the nonprofit sent an email to ABG requesting it receive its “blessing” to use the “Tapout” name. According to the nonprofit, a month and a half passed before it received a cease and desist email.
Tap Out Cancer’s web site reprinted a portion of ABG’s correspondence:
While we applaud your work with charitable causes, we unfortunately cannot grant permission for this use of our federally registered trademark. In addition to owning a stylized mark which you mention you tried to distinguish yourself from, we also own the word mark.
For your information, this use of our trademark in your business name is, in fact, and infringement of our intellectual property rights, including, without limitation our trademarks. It is not our desire to cause you any undue expense in connection with this matter in light of your organization’s goals. As such, we are willing to settle the matter with you at this stage if you can agree to: immediately cease and desist from the use of the trademark TapouT in any and all domain names, corporate names or otherwise, including by transferring the domain name to us.
(via Tap Out Cancer’s web site)
Payout Perspective:
The web site entry by the nonprofit reflects that they understand the reasons for ABG’s letter. While the timeframe took longer than expected, ABG is in its legal right to protect its trademarks. If not, more infringers would follow as the nonprofit points out. This has potential to be a public relations problem although the nonprofit used the “Tapout” name without permission. ABG’s correspondence is delicate and makes sure it is not impersonal in requesting that the nonprofit cease the use of “Tapout.”
Its a good cause, but the nonprofit should have asked ABG, or an attorney, prior to establishing the name of the nonprofit. Fortunately, it appears that there will be no further legal ramifications from this. While Tap Out Cancer indicated that it will lose money from merchandise it intended to sell, its better to take the loss now than to have to lose more money in legal fees to defend a lawsuit.
MFC-Tapout Energy sign sponsorship deal
August 21, 2011
The MFC announced a sponsorship deal with Tapout Energy drinks. Terms of the deal were not disclosed although the MFC indicated that Tapout Energy would be prominently displayed during its next event October 7th.
Via Mike Whitman at Sherdog.com:
“The MFC has always taken great pride in being an organization that thrives on the support of its outstanding corporate partners,” said MFC owner Mark Pavelich in the official release. “Tapout Energy coming on board with the MFC is unquestionably one of the proudest moments in the history of this company.”
Payout Perspective:
The UFC is not the only MMA organization tha has corporate sponsors. The signing of Canadian energy drink Tapout Energy is good support for one of the better organizations in Canada. Earlier this year, Good 4 U drinks entered into a sponsorship agreement with the MFC. For Tapout, its a good way to market its product to its likely target demo of young males 18-34. Out of curiosity, if anyone has had a Tapout Energy, let us know what you think of it.
UFC 133: Payout Perspective
August 8, 2011
Welcome to another edition of Payout Perspective! This week we look at the much-maligned UFC 133 event in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In the main event, Rashad Evans took out Tito Ortiz to cement his spot as the number one contender in the Light Heavyweight division.
Evans knees Ortiz for win
Rashad Evans looked phenomenal and displayed no signs of rust after a 14 month layoff. Tito Ortiz looked good too but Evans was too much for Tito and a knee to the chest ended Tito’s night. This was a fight that no one really lost. Evans secured his title shot and Ortiz spun his loss as “taking one for the team.”
Belfort takes care of Akiyama
Vitor Belfort made quick work of Yoshihiro Akiyama as he knocked out Akiyama in the first round. An impressive showing coming off of being KO’d by Anderson Silva. Interesting the finish came when Akiyama attempted and missed a front kick similar to that of Silva.
Ebersole KO’s Hallman and speedo
While most thought that Brian Ebersole’s “harrow” would be the quirky story of this match, it was Dennis Hallman wearing a speedo that convinced Dana White to award Ebersol a special KO bonus as well as banning all speedos from UFC competition. When I saw Hallman’s short shorts I immediately thought of what boxer Bernard Hopkins was thinking. As some may know, BHop used to hate MMA until the pubicity came to Philadelphia. He did get off one of the best takes about the sport on the Jim Rome show when he said he would lose to any MMA guy since he had notfought like that since “he was in prison or a kid.”
Ebersole received a “special” bonus as a result of his KO. For better or worse, the short shorts received mainstream notoriety from Deadspin and ESPN’s Page 2 created a list of “Worst Looks in Sports History” in honor of Hallman’s shorts.
Attendance and gate
11,583 were in attendance for a gate of $1.5 million according to MMA Junkie. The number of complimentary tickets were not provided. In comparison, 2009’s UFC 101 was a sellout with 17,411 in attendance for a gate of $3.55 million. The event, held in the same building as UFC 133, featured Anderson Silva vs. Forrest Griffin.
Bonuses
MMA Junkie reports the following bonuses for UFC 133. There were no submissions, so no submissions of the night were awarded. However, White awarded Ebersole a $70,000 bonus for getting Hallman’s speedos off of PPV. Other $70,000 award winners included:
Fight of the Night – Evans vs. Ortiz
KO of the Night – Vito Belfort
PR for UFC 133
Rashad Evans workouts were featured on Yahoo! Sports. Evans and NFLers Maurice Jones-Drew and Larry Fitzgerald were featured in a weekly series on elite athlete workouts.
Many Philadelphia celebrities were in attendance including Charles Barkley and Bernard Hopkins. Interesting that Hopkins was in attendance considering that he had bad mouthed MMA for some time.
White and Ortiz appeared on the Jim Rome Show. Similar to NASCAR, the Rome show has embraced the sport by having UFC fighters on as well as talking about it on his show.
White gave away tickets for UFC 133 through its #Hunt4UFC twitter contest where White sent out tweets to locations of where to go if fans wanted free tickets.
Sponsorships
SafeAuto Insurance sponsored its usual band of UFC fighters as well as a contest, “VIP at the UFC.” The brand activation integrated social media into its fan contest. When fans “liked” the SafeAuto Facebook page and filled out a contest form they had the opportunity to win a trip to UFC 133.
Tapout had a similar contest for UFC 133 in which followers either liked the Tapout Facebook page and tweet out “#TapoutTickets” in order to qualify. The winner was announced during the appearance of Skyscrape and Punkass on The MMA Hour last Monday.
According to Bloody Elbow, Rory MacDonald’s fight banner never made it behind him before introductions. A faux pas if you want to keep sponsors. Here it is:
Training Mask made a big splash with the sponsorship of many of the fighters on the card including Rashad Evans. And, it also sponsored the front of Hallman’s shorts. Training Mask put out what seemed to be a tongue in cheek tweet about its sponsorship of Hallman stating that it has no control of what its fighters wear.
Middle Easy sponsored Brian Ebersole. It was interesting to note that at the end of the fight, Joe Rogan referred to Ebersole’s “Bloody Elbow” after pummeling Dennis Hallman. Coincidence?
The fighter fashions are detailed in this post. Notably, Evans sported a white Jaco track suit top with a subtle Jaco logo. Yet, he wore a Tapout shirt post-fight. Nam Phan wore a gi that he took off in the entryway so that his t-shirt sponsor, Throwdown, got the visibility during the walkout.
Conan 3D had the fighter checkpoint sponsorship. Fortunately, no interview with its star this time around.
Harley Davidson, Dodge, Gamefly.com, Xyience, Edge, Boost Mobile and Bud Light had the center of the ring.
Post-UFC 133 Headlines
Evans vs. Jones/Rampage Super Bowl Weekend 2012. Book it. Nobody get hurt.
Rory MacDonald. Probably the most impressive young fighter out there. It will be interesting to see what fights are ahead of the Canadian.
Tito Ortiz. Although he lost, he put on a good fight and it didn’t look like he was mailing it in. He’s regained respect with the UFC and will likely have a fight or two left with the company.
Despite many alterations to the card, UFC 133 had some entertaining, albeit short fights. If you wanted to see knockouts, UFC 133 gave it to you.
Odds and ends:
Did Shane Victorino help promote UFC 133 by starting a bench-clearing brawl Friday night?
Does everyone have Beats by Dre headphones that Evans wore at weigh-ins and walkout?
Joe Rogan mentioned Diamond MMA, a company specializing in compression shorts that hold cups in place to prevent groin shots, during the fights giving the company some good publicity.
The main card fights ended with almost an hour to spare. This happens when there are 4 KOs during the PPV. This was a night with lots of filler fights. It was a good chance to show the Facebook fights live.
Ochocinco signs TapouT deal
June 15, 2011
MMA Mania reports that NFL star Chad Ochocinco has signed a deal with Tapout to sport its mouthguards and wristbands. The deal is a part of Tapout’s expansion outside MMA.
Via Tapout press release (h/t MMA Mania):
“Ochocinco is the perfect athlete to represent the TapouT brand and its energy and intensity,” said Chris Circo, CEO of Battle Sports Science. “Fans absolutely adore Chad’s rule-breaking enthusiasm and passionate devotion to sports. This is evident in the relationship he maintains with his over 2 million Twitter followers.”
Produced by Battle Sports Science, in partnership with Authentic Brands Group, the TapouT Mouthguard is an innovative mouth protection system so advanced that it rivals the safety and performance of custom-molded
mouthguards that cost hundreds of dollars – yet the TapouT Mouthguard is available for a fraction of the cost.
Not only will Ochocinco be protecting his mouth in style with the mouthguard, he’ll also be sporting the new
TapouT RealG Bands and the TapouT RealG Sweatbands. The bands provide unmatched durability and style
with real magnetic technology embedded in a dual layer medical grade silicone.
The mouthguard will be based on the former Chad Johnson’s gold grill.
Payout Perspective:
It will be interesting to see how successful Tapout’s venture outside of MMA will be. As SB Nation reports, it has produced a documentary on the late Evan Tanner which will make its premiere this weekend at the LA Film Festival. A return to television could be next. Ochocinco becomes the first “big name” sports star outside of MMA to represent TapouT. This can only help the brand seek inroads into the NFL and other professional sports. With a huge twitter following, Ochocinco can reach more people than TapouT could with an ad. A positive mention of TapouT to his fans on Twitter would reach more people than if TapouT stayed within its core MMA audience.
For Ochocinco, the deal fits within his own brand and image. He is one of the more outspoken personalities in the NFL. And if a strike is avoided, he will be sporting a gold TapouT mouthpiece that will be captured by a national audience each Sunday.
