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LaVar Ball-Donald Trump Feud Generates Estimated $13.2M in Free Advertising
November 23, 2017
President Donald Trump reportedly provided a whirlwind of free advertising for LaVar Ball in their back-and-forth feud.
On Thursday, Darren Rovell of ESPN cited Apex Marketing Group, which noted that Big Baller Brand has received an estimated $13.2 million in advertisement as Trump and Ball exchanged barbs in recent days.
According to Jeff Eisenberg of Yahoo Sports, Apex Marketing Group calculated the estimate by tracking the number of references to Big Baller Brand in the media compared to normal advertisement rates.
"This back and forth with Donald Trump has extended the brand awareness outside of just sports," Apex Marketing Group president Eric Smallwood said, per Eisenberg. "People who don't follow sports are starting to get more awareness of the brand. To have that reaction from someone as high up as Trump, it has definitely helped [Ball] reach a larger audience."
Things escalated between the two Friday when Ball didn't personally thank Trump for helping three UCLA basketball players, including his son, LiAngelo Ball, back into the country after they shoplifted in China.
"Who?" Ball asked ESPN.com's Arash Markazi. "What was he over there for? Don't tell me nothing. Everybody wants to make it seem like he helped me out."
Ball wasn't done, appearing on CNN and discussing Trump with Chris Cuomo.
He refused to offer thanks during the interview either:
Naturally, Trump took to Twitter and aimed a number of critical barbs at the patriarch of the Big Baller Brand:
Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrumpIt wasn’t the White House, it wasn’t the State Department, it wasn’t father LaVar’s so-called people on the ground in China that got his son out of a long term prison sentence - IT WAS ME. Too bad! LaVar is just a poor man’s version of Don King, but without the hair. Just think..
Eisenberg discussed the potential next step for Ball—after all the advertising—with Bob Dorfman, executive director of Baker Street Advertising. Dorfman believes he should lower the price on the $495 pair of signature shoes for Los Angeles Lakers rookie Lonzo Ball and also position the brand as an anti-Trump one.