WATCH: Adam Silver Makes Special Appearance At 2nd Annual All-Star BIG Brunch, Calls It A ‘Fantastic’ Event

The Second Annual All-Star Weekend Business Inside the Game (BIG) Brunch happened Sunday in Charlotte, NC, at Sophia’s Lounge at The Ivey’s Hotel. Athletes, entrepreneurs, influencers and more were in attendance. The topics on the table were all issues concerning the business aspect of being a player, both on and off the court.

Founder, Baron Davis, started BIG as a platform to help assist athletes, artists, entertainment professionals, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and investors with insights into how business dealings work behind the scenes.

This year’s panel was filled with experts in building businesses, brands and platforms that utilize tech resources that have become more readily available — social media, branding tools, venture capital, and digital marketing. The Commissioner of the NBA Adam Silver also made a special appearance and dropped some knowledge as an impromptu panelist.

Speakers among the panel included:

  • Baron Davis, Moderator, Founder of BIG

  • Noah Lichtenstein, Advisor at Teamdom

  • Robert Smith, Founder IECP

  • Chloe Pavlech, Digital Content Manager, Overtime Sports Network

  • Jon Stewart, NFL Pro Bowl Running Back

  • CJ Anderson, NFL Super Bowl Champion

  • Josh Luber, CEO, StockX

  • Chris Lyons, Chief Of Staff, Andreessen Horowitz

  • Ro Parrish, NBATV

  • Adam Silver, NBA Commissioner

  • And More!

Robert Smith, Founder IECP, said it best,

“people are stingy with the true knowledge behind the business inside the game,”

and that’s exactly why BIG was created. The conferences, brunches, experiential events and more help facilitate those conversations and lift the veil — so many more can succeed off the court.

BIG aims to help those in entertainment create wealth, understand branding and provide insight into how the business side actually works. The ultimate goal is to help athletes establish themselves entrepreneurially, even after they leave the league.

As a panelist, Noah Lichtenstein, Advisor at Teamdom, added,

“athletes and entertainers, their brands are so much more powerful than they were years ago, and that’s because of technology. You look at who’s driving culture, who’s driving the value creation for these platforms like Instagram and Snapchat, etc… Yet, these content creators are not actually seeing the value — the equity, the ownership, in what they’re helping to create value around.”

BIG works to bring awareness around these opportunities and help athletes rise out of just the influencer role and start becoming stakeholders in the value they create.

Here are some highlights from the Second Annual All-Star Weekend Business Inside The Game Brunch. Each speaker brought something different to the table. Watch for Adam Silver’s comments, insights and hard truths, as well as how NFL Super Bowl Champion CJ Anderson markets himself on and off the field to maximize his ability to monetize his brand and create value for stakeholder opportunities.

Stay tuned for more from Business Inside the Game.

IECP