Most early stage consumer brands never seriously plan for athlete partnerships. The assumption is that one athlete would eat a big chunk of the quarterly marketing budget, so it never makes it into the strategy. That assumption is usually wrong, and few companies have anyone in-house positioned to correct it. That's why I've launched Ebbets Athlete Marketing, a consulting firm that helps consumer brands build athlete partnerships. The big talent shops are built for Fortune 500 budgets and max contract players. They aren't usually taking calls from a brand with a four or five figure budget, which leaves a lot of good companies with no real way in. So they either overpay for the wrong athlete, or decide the whole idea isn't for them. I spent years running athlete partnerships and have negotiated hundreds of deals with the agencies that represent the biggest names in sports. I can usually get brands an answer in hours instead of weeks. That experience also teaches you which athletes show up and put in real effort, and how to tell the difference between an athlete looking for a check and one looking for an actual partnership. I'm not an agent, and that matters. Nobody is paying me to place a particular client. Ebbets does three things: 1. Finds the right athlete, usually not the most famous one available. 2. Sources and negotiates the deal. 3. Makes sure you actually use what you paid for, which is where most partnerships quietly fail. The name is a nod to Ebbets Field, which stood a block from where I live in Brooklyn. If you're building something and think an athlete partnership could help you grow it, don't hesitate to reach out.