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at business.hsbc.ca/northamericaTogetherwethrive
IssuedbyHSBCBankCanada.TUESDAY,JULY30,2019 | THEGLOBEANDMAIL O REPORTONBUSINESS| B
In recent years, a visit by LeBron James to
Toronto generally signified the demise of
local NBA playoff hopes. But happily for
Toronto fans, this year is different: A
championship has come at long last to
Canada, and Mr. James is here this week
to launch a media business, not to eject
the Raptors unceremoniously from con-
tention.
The basketball star will be at a launch
party on Friday for the first international
expansion of Uninterrupted, his multime-
dia brand. Scott Moore, who retired as
president of Rogers Sportsnet last year,
will be the chief executive officer of Unin-
terrupted Canada and has partnered with
Canadian film producer Vinay Virmani,
who will be head of content.
Uninterrupted, launched in 2015, cre-
ates videos produced with athletes to give
them direct communication with fans. It
is similar to The Players’ Tribune, the
website launched by baseball star Derek
Jeter, but Uninterrupted focuses primarily
on videos and podcasts instead of written
articles.
“It’s where the business is going,” Mr.
Moore said in an interview. “This is just
another great disruption.”
The site is not a rejection of sports jour-
nalism, but is complementary to it, said
Maverick Carter, Mr. James’s childhood
friend and business partner and the CEO
of Uninterrupted. “What we try to do is
keep the focus on athletes,” he said. “...
Fans love to connect directly.”
The financials of the deal have not
been disclosed, but the Canadian partners
together will own a majority stake in the
business here, which Mr. Moore compares
to a franchisee deal. Canadian rapper
Drake is also a part owner, and has agreed
to promote the platform as well as to be
executive producer on a handful of pro-
jects. The team hopes to turn a profit in
its third year of operations.
The site is free to users. The brand
draws revenue from advertising, live
events and merchandise, plus licensing
deals and sponsorships. For example its
documentary,The Shop, which was pro-
duced by Uninterrupted and licensed to
HBO, featured Mr. James and a host of
other athletes and cultural figures meet-
ing in a barbershop for a series of frank
conversations. One episode featured
Drake opening up about tensions with the
mother of his infant son, a rift between
him and fellow rapper Kanye West and
knowing when to retire.
“Athletes all over the world want
to connect with fans and continue to
share all the ways we are more than ath-
letes,” Mr. James said in an e-mailed state-
ment. “We’re excited to work alongside
our long-time friend and collaborator,
Drake, to bring our vision for this to Cana-
da.”
One of the goals is to build the site’s
Canadian audiences, which are “signifi-
cant, but not huge,” Mr. Moore said. TheCanadian team will be distributing con-
tent from Uninterrupted in the United
States as well as developing original con-
tent for the site, and for possible televi-
sion licensing deals.
The Canadian site will look similar at
first and will continue to show content
from the U.S. site; Canadian-produced
material will begin to appear in the fall.
Uninterrupted Canada has a deal with
Toronto Raptors star Serge Ibaka to pro-
duce fashion and lifestyle video content,
and is finalizing details of a sponsorship
with retailer Holt Renfrew. The Canadian
team will also produce a series with base-
ball pitcher Marcus Stroman, who was
just traded to the New York Mets from the
Toronto Blue Jays. His series is to focus on
smaller athletes and is titled Height
Doesn’t Measure Heart.
The Canadian team will work with
their Uninterrupted counterparts in Los
Angeles on a daily basis, and the U.S. site
may also use some of the Canadian pro-
jects.
“A good story will translate anywhere,”
Mr. Virmani said.LeBronJamestoexpand
mediabusinessintoCanada
FormerSportsnetpresident
tobeCEOofCanadianarm
ofUninterrupted,adisruptor
thatletsathletescommunicate
withfansthroughvideos
BasketballstarLeBronJameswillbeinTorontothisweektocelebratethefirstinternational
expansionofhismultimediabrand.ETHANMILLER/GETTYIMAGESSUSANKRASHINSKYROBERTSON
MEDIAANDMARKETINGREPORTER
TORONTO
FASLANE, SCOTLANDSterling
tumbled to a 28-month low on
Monday as British Prime Minis-
ter Boris Johnson said the Brex-
it divorce was dead and warned
that unless the European Union
renegotiated, Britain would
leave on Oct. 31 without a deal.
Many investors say a no-deal
Brexit would sendshock waves
through the world economy, tip
Britain’s economy into a reces-
sion, roil financial markets and
weaken London’s position as
the pre-eminent international
financial centre.
The pound, which was trad-
ing at US$1.50 on the day of the
2016 referendum, dropped more
than 1.5 US cents to US$1.
on no-deal fears, the lowest
level since March, 2017. Sterling
has fallen more than 2.5 US
cents since Mr. Johnson was
named leader.
Mr. Johnson’s bet is that the
threat of a no-deal Brexit will
persuade the EU’s biggest pow-
ers – Germany and France – to
agree to revise the Withdrawal
Agreement that Theresa May
agreed to but failed three times
to push through the British
Parliament.
“The Withdrawal Agreement
is dead, it’s got to go. But there
is scope to do a new deal,” Mr.
Johnson told reporters in Fas-
lane, Britain’s nuclear sub-
marine base on the Clyde in
Scotland.
“We are going to go ahead
and come out of the EU on Oct.
31.”
When asked about his re-
mark during the campaign for
the party leadership that the
odds on a no-deal Brexit were a
million to one, he said: “Provid-
ed there is sufficient goodwill
and common sense on the part
of our partners, that is exactly
where I would put the odds.”
Mr. Johnson also said that
the Irish border backstop –
designed to prevent the return
of a hard border between Ire-
land and Northern Ireland –
was “no good. It’s dead. It’s got
to go.”
REUTERSJOHNSONPLAYSBREXIT
HARDBALL,POUNDTUMBLES