(ThyBlackMan.com) Last week it was reported that Louis Tomlinson, 22, a native of Doncaster, England and one-fifth of the pop group One Direction (1D) was close to finalizing a deal to become part owner of the Doncaster Rovers, DRFC, his hometown football (aka soccer) team. Since then, there have been several announcement and postponements of scheduled press conferences over supposedly a “minor issue” of Modest Management’s ownership of Louis Tomlinson’s image rights.
It’s unconfirmed, but reports are that Modest will get a 25% share in the club in exchange for limited use of Louis Tomlinson image while he is a shareholder in the Rovers along with ex-Chairman John Ryan. Yet, Modest are still holding things up. To be clear. This team is a money pit. Based on the last several years there are not many profits to be had. Even if Louis’ 1D fame helps sell some additional merchandise, the profits, if any, will not in any way be noticeable compared to the billions Modest makes from 1D dolls, perfumes, etc…
Louis loves football. Louis Tomlinson is trying to invest in his hometown. Despite his international travel and fame, Louis has always listed Doncaster as his home. Louis supports children’s charities through the
Rovers. Given that they have known about this purchase for month, it’s
unclear what Modest is trying to achieve. Noticeably Modest did not help to promote any of Louis’ previous charity events with the Rovers. Fans of both the Rovers and 1D are calling out Modest Managements delaying antics on Twitter.
1D fan have long speculated that the relationship between Louis and his management team is rocky. Louis is the unnamed leader of 1D. He’s the one in the group who deals with management for the boys. Given recent events, most management companies would be doing everything in their power to publicize the deal and ensure that gets finalized quickly. This is an opportunity to showcase Louis Tomlinson the businessman and hometown hero. Instead, Modest chooses to focus on different media narratives for Louis. An announcement at Wembley Stadium before a 1D concert would have been the perfect launch to the venture but had to be cancelled because Modest, who has known about this deal for months waited until hours before the scheduled press conference to bring up an issue that is taking them days to work out.
Those who follow entertainment news are probably aware that last month Louis Tomlinson made the news for a video he shot in Peru where he talks about smoking weeds while wearing a demo version of Google glasses. It’s legal to smoke marijuana in Peru and many adults did not think the video was particularly newsworthy. Lots of entertainment professionals think it was a PR stunt to begin to expand the 1D fanbase beyond the tween set in conjunction with promo for Google glasses. In her report, BBC Newsbeat report Sinead Garvan, also suggested that the video contained evidence that 1D are unhappy with their manufactured image.
News sources all report that Louis Tomlinson is eager to conclude the deal. A second planned news conference to announce Louis’ purchase of the Rovers has also been called off. Given the history of boybands and their managers, interviewers always ask 1D about their relationship with their management. The answer 1D always gives is “We love our management.” Fans of the Doncaster Rovers and 1D, how do you feel about Modest Managements last minute delay of Louis’ takeover deal?
A sign seen at a 1D show at Wembley Stadium June 2014.
Written By Skygazer555