Why Brodie Rec League Could Be the Future of Basketball

So you're from Canada, obviously played hockey , growing up, uh, represented Canada in rugby.

How did you end up building the biggest basketball league in North America?

It's a good question, um.

You know, I, I Something about playing hockey and something about playing rugby, it's like, it's two old sports, it's two sports that I really love, but they're really hard, like they're really hard to play.

You need skates, you need a stick, you need pucks, you need thousands of dollars of equipment, and on the other hand, for rugby, you gotta go get beat up for like 90 minutes.

And like I couldn't tell you the number of like blown ankles and and and ruptured biceps and all types of stuff, so I was like, I'm getting a bit older, I love competing.

What else do I love doing?

I love video games, I love 2K, I love basketball.

Let's give it a shot and um.

And that was sort of how, uh, Brody was born, more or less.

Video games and blown blown biceps.

You, well, so you started Brody in back in 2019, you were working at a bank, right?

That's right.

What, what was the moment, like how did it all come together?

Were you playing in a rec league of your, of your own, and you just, a light bulb went off?

Like, give me like the cliff notes of how it all came together.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, so I, I was working at a bank, um.

I was commuting into the suburbs, so I take this 45 minute train ride back to the suburbs, back to my mom's house, and in the um And in that commute, I was telling my friend about this idea like, hey, you know, I love basketball, but I can't play it anywhere.

Like the first rec league experience I had, I showed up to a gym, the game was 30 minutes late, the referee was a little high, I think, and the scorekeeper was like eating his like dinner or something, not paying attention.

So I pitched this idea to my friend.

I'm like, hey, like, you know, I played rugby, I played basketball, I love I played hockey, I love played rugby, love basketball, I love 2K, like can we do that?

Like, could I get photos and videos, and he spent 45 minutes being like, this is a horrible idea, this will never work.

You should go stick to your day job, and then at the end of it, he was like, OK, Brody, see you later, and he liked me up.

And that's how Brodie was born.

It was just out of just actually on both of those stories it's pure spite.

It, it all came together.

I think one of the coolest things about Brodie is that you're giving these regular people, kind of the pro athlete experience.

You got media days, custom jerseys, highlight packages.

What, why was that so important to you?

I think everybody um You know, it's important for me.

I think I was I was jealous.

Like I played hockey growing up, I played high level, but not high enough to get the like photos in the media day and the things, and you know, I've seen it on TV of like NBA players getting this like pro treatment.

And at the same time, like in in 2019, like, cameras were getting really good and really cheap, and it like wasn't that expensive to have a videographer and a photographer show up, and, you know, we built the model that like it just, it just worked for us.

Like I think most rec sports is the race to the bottom.

It's like, how can we make this the cheapest thing possible, uh, and we were like.

Well, why would like we're adults now, like we have free time, especially like I was young and like I was like 23, graduated, new to like being an adult.

I was like, yeah, that's gonna be shit, that's gonna be shit, uh, so, um, yeah, that it just, it was just like a no-brainer for me.

It was just, yeah.

I, I think everybody, you know, I played pickup basketball.

It's been a while, but everybody has that guy at the local gym who thinks he's, he missed his calling to the NBA.

How many of those guys do you have competing in Brodie?

There's 50,000 athletes all time, another 50,000 fans, um, and they're just like.

It's everybody who it's so we're like the 99%, man, like the people that that that that put butts in seats that buy the tickets that buy the jerseys, but like that's all that's out there for us.

It's like sit down, watch the game, um, and, you know, bet your life on like whatever, like, you know, and I just thought that like that was like so.

For all the sports dreams that kids have growing up, and then like if you don't play pro, it's essentially like two middle fingers, like go get a job and like forget about it.

I was like that's just, that's ridiculous, like, like it's not to be that way.

Um, with the cool thing about Brodie is there are all different skill levels, right, but you do have some former college and professional players competing alongside these like everyday guys.

Has there ever been anybody that showed up that was like way better than everybody expected?

Totally, um.

Actually I'm, I'm good friends with um with MK, the viral like one on one player.

Yeah, and before he was MK he's always been like that, but before he was MK he played at Brodie league, and um he was just I remember him, he he dunked on somebody so aggressively that I, that was the birth of the new skill levels.

But, um, let's talk about the content machine cause that's a big part of Brodie League and you're, you're really focused on the content.

You guys are, I read you're putting out like 30,000 pieces of content every week.

Did you, when you started Brodie, did you envision it becoming a content machine or did that just kinda happen organically?

It's fully organically, um, I remember our first week of Brodie when people were like, why is there so many video and camera people out?

I had this hunch, and I never envisioned it that way.

I, I never actually envisioned Brodie to get as big as it is today.

I, I literally just started it because like there was a need for me.

Like I wanted the photo and video, I wanted stats.

I wanted a good or a good experience.

I was like new to basketball, and I didn't want to get like just go to an LA Fitness or to a gym and, you know, I wanted the right skill, the right pace, the right environment, the right community.

Um, but when you think about it, like, when is the last time the everyday person has had a photo or a video of themselves?

Like it just does not happen.

So like from that, we created this massive flywheel of people posting their photos and their highlights and their stats, and, you know, it's, it's just evolved to a point where somebody uh texted me the other day, who's a player from from New York, and he said, Dude, I got invite you to my wedding, and I was like, yeah, hell yeah, like sure, it sort of out of the blue.

He's like, yeah, I gotta invite you because.

The photos you guys took of me were so good.

I put them on my Hinge profile, and I met my wife on Hinge and broke got me married, so you're gonna come, and it's just like it it's just normal people that just we get to treat people like superstars, and it's just like it's infectious.

You mentioned like the normal everyday aspect of it, but and with content.

Are you guys focused on like maybe developing some stars when it comes to Brodie League, like some unique personalities, cause I think with other sports leagues, that's kind of what what generates fan interest, right?

Yeah, yeah, 100%.

I think for us, I mean, I look at this opportunity to build Brodie into a company like Nike.

And in fact, I say it all the time to our team , like we are the next Nike, like they'll never be or the the new Nike, they'll never be another Nike.

Nike is my favorite company of all time, but to have the sort of cultural relevance and the influence on people is what I'm interested in, and I have no interest in building a cheap, fast, quick product.

I want to build a product where, you know, I can be like Phil Knight on the board of directors and I'm 90.

So when I think about like building Brodie and the business of Brody, we want to get really, really, really good.

At running organized sports leagues, and before we layer in, you know, people always ask me like, when are you doing another sport?

When are you going to do this?

When are you gonna do that?

There no great company has been built in under it like as fast as we are currently building Brodie.

I'm actively trying to pump the brakes on how fast we grow, because I want to be here forever, and I want to change the sports world, and you don't do that by by by by layering in too many complex problems all at the same time.

So I think the bigger we get, the more opportunity will be for us, and that's how we're trying to stay focused.

You mentioned, uh, how big you're getting.

You are expanding into Seattle, Atlanta, Long Island, New Jersey .

I think I read you have a goal of reaching the top 50 US markets by the end of next year.

What's, what's next?

Like, what's the next big piece?

Is it, uh, is it broadcasting rights?

Is it, what, where do you see it going in the evolution of, um, where Brody can become like the next Nike?

I think it's, um, I'm like a huge, huge fan of, um, I'm just like history and building businesses and sports and war and all types of things and like.

Like people, it's like maybe a funny weird comparison, and I'm not trying to say I'm like a I'm much taller than Napoleon, but like Napoleon would always say like, he never actually people always thought he was a master planner, he was never a master planner.

He'd always play the battlefield, and I think for Brodie.

I just, I just don't know, like I know that we're going to be a global company and we're gonna have sports leagues all over the planet.

What that looks like in the next 3 or 4 years is you just got to tune in and find out.

I don't, I don't, I don't know, but it's, it's the top 50 markets in the next, in the next year, so if you're in a big city in the US we'll, we'll be , we'll be there pretty soon.

Good stuff, man.

Last one for me, um, how, how much interest have you generated for maybe some NBA stars?

I'm sure they're paying attention to what you're doing.

Was there like a moment or a, a star that has reached out to you where you're like, wow, this is really cool.

There's definitely been tons of moments.

Um, my favorite moment has been, it was actually very early.

It was actually like a few years ago.

Um, we started this in a suburb outside of Toronto.

Uh, and also, we also happen to share the hometown of the current MVP.

Um, so I was playing and on a court just over the side, I saw Shay Gils Alexander, and he pulled up to watch his friends and all of his friends who didn't make the NBA.

Still want to play basketball, still want to love basketball , so to see.

The spotlight actually on the friends and his neighbors and his day ones and not on him, and just on the basketball like that's happening for the everyday athlete , that's like the that's been the best thing ever to put, put the NBA players in the stands .

Let, let us get on the court.

Reigning sportsperson of the Year, Shay Gilges Alexander, so thanks for the time, Connor, really appreciate it.

I'm excited to see what you're gonna do with Brodie in the future.

Thanks so much, Doug.