Odell Beckham Jr. is doing more than just football. He’s decided to expand his personal brand to YouTube as the Cleveland Browns announced that he’s partnered with Wheelhouse Entertainment and award-winning digital company Portal A to create a brand new content company called ITN Productions.
ITN Productions will provide unscripted content for TV, streaming and digital platforms. It all got started with OBJ’s YouTube channel that launched on Tuesday.
Shown above, Beckham’s first video tells his fans what to expect from his new channel.
“I think when people here Odell Beckham Jr., OBJ, or whatever you want to call me, there’s this certain perception or persona,” Odell says in the video. “It’s true I like to have a good time. Celebrate. But, that’s only part of the story. The real Odell, he works… I really worked my entire life to get here. I deserve this. Come join along. See what it’s like. Watch the work get put in. Watch the good times. Watch everything.”
This is smart. With OBJ being so misunderstood as a person and an athlete, this YouTube channel will be a way to show people the real guy and how he deals with day-to-day things like adjusting to his new life in Cleveland. It’ll show his personal life and it’ll show his professional life, down to his pre-game routines and his wardrobe.
“It’s amazing to launch my very own YouTube channel and give fans a behind the scenes look into my life,” Beckham said in a statement. “This collaboration between Wheelhouse Entertainment and Portal A will expand my digital presence and engagement with fans around the world.”
This is a way for Beckham to better control his image, while also benefiting from the public image and brand he’s created over his career. People always want to know what he’s wearing, what club he was at last weekend, and what his workout routines are. But his sideline antics and non-football related activities have been continuously criticized and at times, have outweighed the good. He was called out by the Giants organization for being a “cancer” and “pain in the ass” after being traded to the Browns but was undoubtedly the face that made that struggling franchise still relevant.
“This is me being honest: This team has not been good for the last six years. Period,” Beckham said in his recent GQ cover story. “I felt disrespected because I felt like I was a main reason at keeping that brand alive. They were getting prime-time games, still, as a 5-and-11 team. Why? Because people want to see the show. You want to see me play. That’s just real rap. I’m not sitting here like, ‘It’s because of me.’ But let’s just be real.”
Nice.