Which Superstar Should The LA Rams Partner Up With?

After a 21-year absence, football is returning to Los Angeles. The LA Rams are back… but it won’t be easy to hold LA fans’ attention.

The second largest media market in the nation is always ON. Two NBA teams in the Lakers and Clippers, Two MLB teams with the Dodgers and Angels, Two NHL teams, Kings and Ducks, two soccer teams, the LA Galaxy, and the newly launched Los Angles FC. Plus Hollywood, the beaches and mountains. There’s a lot to do.

Rams owner Stan Kronke is building an NFL Disneyland in Inglewood. Nostalgia aside, for most fans, the Rams were the number two team in LA to the Raiders back in the day.  He can’t afford a slow start out of the gate. The first order of marketing business is to get a connection to the community via the players, but next, he’ll need some sort of star power to help brand the franchise like Jay Z did with the Brooklyn Nets.

Here are five music superstars or Hollywood types Kronke should be looking to do business with.

 

Ice Cube – This pairing will never happen. Ice Cube has already made it clear he’s a Raiders fan for life. Think about it, when did you see NWA rocking the blue and gold? But Cube’s connections to Hollywood and Compton would make him the perfect ambassador to welcome football back to LA.

 

Snoop Dogg –  Snoop’s connection to football, especially in southern California is undeniable. His “Snoop Youth Football League” has been in existence for 10 years, and has even produced a few NFL players, most notably Kansas City Chiefs running back De’Anthony Thomas.

When it was announced that a new stadium was coming to LA a year ago, Snoop had this to say about the NFL in LA:

We need it. We need a football team. We’re one of the biggest markets for football. We deserve it. Hopefully we’ll get a great team to come and restore the feeling. All we’ve got right now is USC and UCLA.

The Rams are rebuilding right now, so they might be the better bet.

Would Uncle Snoopy turn in his Pittsburgh Steelers alliance to guide the Rams to LA dominance? He briefly switched up his love of USC to UCLA when his son Cordell accepted a football scholarship last year, before ultimately deciding that football wasn’t his first love.

Snoop currently has a football-themed talk show with Adidas entitled “Turf’d Up”. Last year he produced a documentary, “Snoop and son” for ESPN covering Cordell’s final high school season of football.

Sean Combs – Puff Daddy, Puffy, Diddy, whatever name you choose to call the Harlem-born rapper, producer, actor, and entrepreneur, you know hustle is in the description plus. No, I’m not trying to reignite the East-Coast-West-Coast beef with this suggestion, I’m just giving you all the alternatives out there.

Puffy is an LA resident. His cable network Revolt is headquartered in Hollywood. He’s tapped into the nightlife markets via his Ciroc vodka and Deleon tequila and he’s expressed interest in becoming an owner of an NFL team. He tried to become embedded in UCLA football while his son attended on a football scholarship, but a kettlebell put an end to that dream.

Drake – Everybody’s favorite celebrity sports’ fan continues to pick the right brands to align with. From Jordan to Apple music and his ambassador role with the Toronto Raptors, Drake gets “it” and delivers results. Plus he’ll give you a hot anthem and instant name value to your team star – “6th man like Lou Will” seemed to work wonders last season former Raptor and current Lakers’ forward.

But would it be as organic as it feels with the Raps? The 2016 NBA All-Star Weekend is in his backyard of Toronto. This will be a great glimpse into how he sees his brand connections coming together around such a high-profile sporting event.

Magic Johnson – Lakers legend, Dodgers owner, LA Sparks and LA Football Club, there’s no part of LA Magic Johnson hasn’t touched. Magic is familiar with Inglewood as he is one of the reasons it’s known as “The city of champions.” Magic’s Lakers played in the Fabulous Forum which is located right next door to where the new stadium will be located. His entrepenurial efforts are well documented, and if there is one sports ambassador of LA, it’s him. Magic attempted to bring a stadium and team to the downtown LA efforts. Stan Kronke and the LA Rams would be foolish not to get down with Magic and the Dodgers on some level.

Plus, once NFL fans in the LA market discover they’re going to start losing double headers on Sundays because of how the TV rights are set up, you better be ready to give them something highly entertaining for the inconvenience.

Remember, Jay Z only really owned less than 1% of the Nets, but he flipped that into millions in revenue from licensing, arena design, and of course ensuring that some of his other business interests were infused into the package. Plus, someone has to tell the Rams that this generic logo update won’t cut it!