The intimate game: Athletes with their own underwear lines

Sports stars are not limiting themselves to the courts of their respective sports, most of them are becoming businessmen as well. While some place their investment portfolios on food businesses and sportswear, others choose to go the extra mile by associating themselves with men’s underwear.

Men’s underwear has become a multi-million dollar industry, with specialty brands manufacturing top-of-the-line luxury undergarments. One good example is Naked Brand’s luxury line that truly elevated men’s undergarments to high fashion. Their high-quality boxer briefs, briefs, undershirts, and trunks have certain features that separate it from other brands. This kind of approach is being applied by many underwear brands, and famous athletes are adopting this investing approach.

Here are some big-name athletes who have stepped into a more intimate (and financially-wise) game of building their own brands.

Kevin Durant

Oklahoma City Thunders’ Kevin Durant is already worth millions of dollars thanks to his fat NBA paycheck. Last year, the basketball star attached his name to clothing, particularly with men’s underwear line, by signing with action sports accessory brand Neff.

Durant signed an endorsement deal with Neff as its brand ambassador and to design his own underwear line. “We just thought that this was a category that was literally overlooked,” said Neff in a report by NESN. “No one’s really put a stylized element to it. What we’re working on is, ‘How can we brand this, put some style and flavor and fashion in the underwear game while being comfortable?” added Neff’s representative. Aside from modeling his own underwear line with Neff, Durant was also granted equity in the brand’s underwear division.

Cristiano Ronaldo

The world-famous Real Madrid footballer made use of his lean physique by appearing as the model for his own men’s underwear collection with designer Richard Chai. Called CR7 by Cristiano Ronaldo, the collection features boxer briefs in colorful designs and prints. The spring/summer 2015 collection was launched in February and the athlete shared his excitement over his new venture.

Football player and underwear model Cristiano Ronaldo. (Photo by Ludovic Péron via Flickr. CC BY 2.0)

“I love vibrant colors and underwear is a great way to experiment with different looks,” said Ronaldo about his line, in a post by Hollywood Life. “I like to make sure that the collection stands out! I’m really proud of it!” he added.

Russell Westbrook

Another NBA player from Oklahoma City, Russell Westbrook added an underwear line to his endorsement portfolio. Westbrook signed an endorsement deal with underwear brand, Kings & Jaxs, which is known for its boxer briefs.

Westbrook’s line is particularly described as “flashy,” with the brand freely using Westbrook’s name in its marketing strategy. According to a report by Forbes, Westbrook’s marketing agent said that the NBA star was “intrigued” by Kings & Jaxs because of its creativity and use of high-quality materials. Forbes added that the Oklahoma Thunder point guard will provide “expansive input” in the upcoming underwear lines that the brand will release.

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