Fyfe joins big business league

It was probably the last thing on Nat Fyfe's mind as he ran on to Domain Stadium last night for his 100th AFL game.

But every time the Fremantle Dockers star soars through the air for one of his trademark overhead grabs, or bashes through a pack to grab the Sherrin for yet another possession, his value goes up.

We're not talking his dream team points here, we are talking cold hard cash.

And the boy from Lake Grace and his management team are well aware of this.

After a week of incredible hype where his Brownlow dream stayed alive - and some commentators gushingly proclaimed him the best player in the AFL - the Fremantle midfielder on Friday launched Natfyfe7.com, a website dedicated to developing the "brand" of the 23-year-old.

It is a brand experts say has passed the million-dollar threshold and is growing by the day. And it is a brand many believe will develop into one of the more lucrative in Australia.

The development of business opportunities and "brand exposure" is nothing new for in- demand AFL superstars - Lance Franklin has his own fashion label and released his "Buddy Ball" footy two years ago and players openly use social media to help promote their own brands and business ventures.

Experts believe the open cultivation of player branding in the AFL, through something such as a personal website, takes it to another level.

According to his management team, the Nat Fyfe website, which follows on from Geelong superstar Joel Selwood who launched his own site and "brand" two years ago, could soon offer up Nat Fyfe game day memorabilia such as "match-day-worn boots or jumpers" and merchandise.

It also lists Fyfe's personal sponsors Lexus, Australian Wool, men's clothing retailer M.J. Bale and Seven West Media, publisher of The Weekend West.

Perhaps more significantly, it signifies what some experts say is the start of the personal branding seen across the US with global superstars such as the NBA's LeBron James.

As Fyfe's manager Jason Dover, of Stride Management, explains, the AFL is becoming more and more businesses-like every day, and players, who have a limited time in the spotlight, need to act or they will miss out.

"From a management point of view, we're big on all our players understanding that they have a brand, or personal IP, as soon as they're drafted," Mr Dover said.

"Away from footy and business-wise there are more opportunities. Maybe 10 years ago good players just expected to be given these opportunities off the field. Now they have to be earned - there are more players and more accountability in businesses.

"So if you can grow your brand and grow additional aspects of that brand and get big enough and popular enough, that brand can evolve to another level. And I suppose that's what we're seeing with Nat."

Mr Dover said there were big plans in the works, but the introduction of something like the "Nat Fyfe footy boots", as seen with soccer players, "won't happen in the short term but who knows in five or 10 years time".

Mindful of being overexposed, Fyfe imposed a media ban on himself after Wednesday's press conference ahead of tonight's match.

In typically articulate fashion in the video released on Afl.com to coincide with the website launch, Fyfe said he understood the power of building a brand "beyond the four walls of a footy club".

"My image is so crucial to me and to the footy club," Fyfe said.

"So I have an important role in marketing myself and presenting myself to the public in a certain way and I think by managing that through my website I can really nurture that in the direction I want to go."

On the other side of town, West Coast Eagle Nic Naitanui, whose personal merchandise is understood to outsell other West Coast players by up to four times, is the most obvious candidate in terms of player branding and marketability.

There were even rumours circulating the football world that Naitanui's request to cut off his trademark dreadlocks was knocked back by the club because of their marketability - a rumour a spokesman for the club dismissed as an "old wives' tale".