She is a four-time Grand Slam singles champion and ranks as the highest-paid female athlete in the world, having earned $57 million in 2021, mostly from sponsorships. Walmart recently began stocking products from its skincare company, Kinlò, in nearly 3,000 locations. Last month, she launched a sports representation agency.
And now Naomi Osaka is pushing in Hollywood — with some help from LeBron James.
Osaka, 24, started a media company called Hana Kuma in partnership with SpringHill, a fast-growing entertainment, marketing and product company co-founded by James. Osaka said in a brief Zoom interview that her ambitions for Hana Kuma, which means “flower bear” in Japanese, include scripted and unscripted TV series, documentaries, cartoons and branded content, which are programs entertainment incorporating advertising.
There’s a reason we call ourselves an Empowerment Company. This amazing woman and the stories she will bring to life are EXACTLY what we are talking about!!! Incredibly proud to call her my partner. @naomiosaka @makespringhill #MoreThananAthlete https://t.co/mellHFKP9Q
— LeBron James (@KingJames) June 21, 2022
“Honestly, I can’t say if I personally will be into anything right now,” Osaka said. “What excites me is being able to inspire people and tell new stories, especially the ones I wish I had seen when I was a kid. I’ve always wanted to see someone like me. Osaka is of Japanese and Haitian descent.
Fans should expect Osaka’s advocacy to underpin at least some of Hana Kuma’s offerings, most of which are still in development. Osaka has been candid about topics that many elite sports stars try to avoid. She was one of the first to support the Black Lives Matter movement. Last year, she sparked a global discussion about mental health in sport when she pulled out of the French Open, citing the need to make her own wellbeing a priority. She also revealed past struggles with depression and anxiety.
The Osaka franchise has resonated with audiences far beyond sports – young people in particular – making it a sponsorship dream even though it has struggled on the tennis court recently. (She lost in the French Open first round last month. She said in a social media post on Saturday that she will not be playing at Wimbledon this summer due to an Achilles tendon injury.)
A project in development concerns the kitchen and the Haitian community. “I watch a lot of food shows, cooking contests, because I like to cook,” Osaka said with a laugh. The first project with Hana Kuma credits will be a New York Times Op-Doc on Patsy Mink, the first woman of color elected to Congress. Hana Kuma is also working on unspecified documentary content for Epix, a premium cable channel now owned by Amazon.
Naomi Osaka is launching her own media company – Hana Kuma – in partnership with LeBron James and Maverick Carter’s The SpringHill Company.
“We’ll bring stories to life with this goal: to make unique perspectives feel universal and inspire people along the way” – @naomiosaka pic.twitter.com/hW0rOJ2cav
– Front Office Sports (@FOS) June 21, 2022
SpringHill, co-founded by Maverick Carter in 2020, will serve as Hana Kuma’s financing, operating and production partner. SpringHill has around 200 employees and was valued at $725 million when it sold a minority stake to raise capital last year. Operations include a marketing consultancy and a media and apparel division dedicated to empowering athletes. Another unit focuses on film and television production. There is also an event team.
“Naomi can just connect to what we’ve built,” Carter said.
SpringHill wants to replicate the Hana Kuma deal with other athletes who have global appeal. “We want to do a lot more in the future,” Carter said, noting that talks have started with other sports stars.
One has to wonder: isn’t this just a cutting-edge vanity deal? For decades, old-line studios funded favored stars to start affiliates, most of which never amounted to much — other than keeping the star happy.
“Under the old system, it ended up being conceited sometimes,” Carter said. “But the goal here is to make Hana Kuma a real business and a real brand.” SpringHill’s focus on branded content sets it apart from traditional studios, he added. Hana Kuma was hired by FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange, to produce branded content.
James said over the phone that Osaka’s “grace and power” on and off the court made him a good match for SpringHill, “which exists to empower athlete builders.”
“We don’t take for granted the position we’re in to lend a hand, in this case Naomi, to help her achieve even greater things,” James said.
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Osaka has 12 sponsors, including Nike, Mastercard, Louis Vuitton and Panasonic. Her longtime agent and business partner, Stuart Duguid, said some may be involved in Hana Kuma’s content. Duguid is a co-founder of Hana Kuma.
“We really want to reduce that number and have deeper relationships with those who continue,” Duguid said, referring to corporate sponsors. “We want to take bigger swings and start businesses, invest in businesses, things that could potentially have a bigger payoff than if you did a deal with McDonald’s and got paid year after year. What will really move the needle? »
Building a business portfolio – while still in the middle of her tennis career – has made Osaka a trailblazer among female athletes. At least, it will be if she succeeds.
“We haven’t seen any female athlete do anything like what we’re trying to achieve,” Duguid said. “Serena has done well with her venture capital firm. But she’s towards the end of her career and, you know, we’re in the middle. He was referring to tennis legend Serena Williams, whose venture capital firm , Serena Ventures, has raised an inaugural fund of $111 million to invest in founders with diverse points of view.
Because she still plays tennis, Osaka won’t be attending many production meetings. “But anything that’s creative and anything that’s strategic, obviously there’s going to be Naomi’s footprint, her style and her input,” Duguid said.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
