Earlier this month, former professional wrestling superstar Hulk Hogan announced that he is launching “Hostamania,” a new web hosting and domain registration venture, with the help of Tech Assets. The new hosting provider built a lot of buzz with a YouTube video parodying GoDaddy’s campaign led by Jean-Claude Van Damme and Miley Cyrus’ ‘Wrecking Ball’ music video.
If you’ve ever wanted to see the Hulkster rocking a thong – click here.
As a way to get that spine chilling image erased from my brain, I began writing up a shortlist of other prominent athletes – active, inactive, and in the sports entertainment world – that would make a great fit for similar internet technology and web hosting ventures.
Why might my brain go to such a place, you may ask?
- I moonlight as a sports blogger
- I make a living in online marketing
- I work for a provider of IT infrastructure and cloud services
Check out my list of 8 athletes – 6 active, 2 retired – that should seriously consider following the path of the Hulkster into the wonderful world of website hosting.
And if you’re the agent of any of these athletes and you sign them on as spokesmen for a web hosting provider, feel free to jot down my info below so you can send me a portion of your income percentage on their endorsement contract. After all, you wouldn’t have thought of this opportunity without me blogging about it.
Adrian Peterson, Running Back, Minnesota Vikings
I’m going to stay away from discussing the actual marketing power of aligning a business with the NFL’s premier running back – that’s kind of a no-brainer. What may not be so obvious is aligning Peterson’s personal recovery from an ACL and MCL tear in 2011 with a data center or colocation hosting provider that specializes in disaster recovery services.
Peterson defied all odds in returning from that injury, rushing for over 2000 yards and winning NFL MVP in 2012. Likewise, when disaster strikes a business, there are few things more valuable than having a data center in a safe location backing up their systems and keeping their business operational.
“A.D.” and the right “D.C.” could be a match made in heaven.
John Cena, WWE Champion
Similar to the marketability of hiring the reigning NFL MVP as your spokesperson, hiring the WWE champion seems like a no-brainer also. However, Cena’s tagline “U Can’t C Me” would be great to align with a private cloud provider who doesn’t have the political obligation to provide the government or security agencies with private customer information.
Kurt Warner, Retired NFL Quarterback
Kurt Warner won a Super Bowl and two NFL MVPs as a quarterback for the St. Louis Rams in the late 90s after spending years as a backup and developmental league QB.
Warner is widely regarded as one of the greatest backup QBs in NFL history, and his story would make a great companion for a company like Mozy or Carbonite that provides data backup. Most sports team want a backup that can come in and win in the event a starter goes down – Warner did that AND THEN SOME during his time in St. Louis.
Monta Ellis, Guard, Milwaukee Bucks
Monta Ellis, Guard, Milwaukee BucksNormally, businesses aren’t looking to align themselves with a player in a small market on a team that doesn’t compete for championships – but Monta Ellis’ joined Mark Cuban’s Dallas Mavericks during the off-season, so that concern is no longer relevant. Ellis’ speed on the court has earned him the nickname ‘The One Man Fastbreak’ – and for hosting providers that tout the benefit of their page loading speed, Ellis might be a great spokesperson.
Chris Johnson, Running Back, Tennessee Titans
Commonly referred to as ‘CJ2K’ but also known as the ‘Cloud Of Dust’, Chris Johnson’s time in the 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine was 4.24 seconds. In human speed terms, this is the equivalent of Google’s data centers producing 128,843,657 results for your search query in 0.0000324 seconds. Another great match for a data center or hosting provider that touts the ability of their servers to deliver information very quickly.
Dwayne Wade, Guard, Miami Heat
Dwayne Wade, Guard, Miami HeatAnother athlete who can leverage his speed with a nickname like ‘Flash’ to connect with a hosting provider, Dwayne Wade’s playing style would also make him a good match for a company that manufactures rugged rackmounts or industrial-grade computer hardware.
He plays basketball with a reckless abandon, and he’s known for playing at a high level through pain and injury. Those characteristics would make him a great match for a company whose technology is built to stand up to any test or environment.
Chris Jericho, Retired WWE Superstar
When Chris Jericho burst onto the WWE scene, he claimed he had arrived to “save the World Wrestling Federation” and began referring to himself as Y2J. Now, we all know that Y2K, the infamous bug that caused quite a bit of hysteria in 1999 actually had little impact.
But if its part of Jericho’s storyline that he can save organizations, wouldn’t a company that specializes in web-based data recovery or backup make a great fit for Jericho – even today?
What athletes or celebrities could you see as spokespeople for the web hosting industry? Why? Please share in the comments below.
Photo credits: Wikipedia