Before Cooperstown, David Ortiz extends the spectacle deal and sticks to crypto

Dressed in a black and gold yacht hat, a peacock coat and yellow rain boots, former Boston Red Sox legend David Ortiz uses a walkie-talkie to shout, “Ahoy, you’re approaching a lighthouse.”

The appearance off the track is part of a new ad for the e-commerce eyewear platform Zenni, which shows Ortiz, who is wearing prescription sunglasses, and warns a fishing boat 30 miles offshore of a possible collision.

“Pension?” he says when the action freezes: “Not for Papi.”

Ortiz, 46, who was introduced entered the Baseball Hall of Fame in January, and will be honored at the 2022 ceremony later this month, talked about life after baseball in a video interview with Forbes.

The former all-star has held a presence in Boston where Ortiz appears on behalf of the Red Rox, and in baseball in general as a baseball analyst for Fox Sports. He has also co-founded a private equity firm that invests in consumer product companies, started Ortiz34, a baseball equipment brand for children, and Ortiz is one of the athletes that supports the crypto platform FTX.

“I like to be busy,” says Ortiz. “I do not like to sit still. … I guess that is the habit you create as a baseball player.”

Ortiz played for 20 years, hitting 541 home runs in his career, the 17th of all time, earning more than $ 160 million on the field, according to Spotrac, a website that tracks sports contracts. He talked to Forbes from the home country of the Dominican Republic as he prepares to launch a branded eyewear collection with Zenni as part of his expanded deal with the company.

“It’s affordable,” Ortiz says of the glasses, which are priced below $ 50. “I made sure they had prices that people could approach.”

Shops with “Big Papi”

Zenni was launched in 2003 and serves the electronic marketplace for glasses. It told Forbes it reached a turnover of around $ 400 million in 2021. This figure will be an increase from approx. $ 329 million in total revenue in 2020 and $ 250 million the year before, according to Pitchbook.

The company mated with Ortiz last year via an approval agreement. Financial terms for the agreement have not been disclosed, but Ortiz does not have equity. It was paired with Ortiz in 2021 to increase brand awareness as the California-based company competes in a global eyewear market that is expected to reach $ 197 billion by 2027, according to market data company Statista.

The July 11 campaign with Ortiz, entitled “PapiVision: Lighthouse”, follows an advertising commercial from August 2021 which played Ortiz in the lead role as restaurant food inspector. Ortiz uses the glasses to detect a bug in one of five dishes with clam chowder. That commercial amused Red Sox and Fenway Sports Group owner John Henry.

“When he first saw it,” says Ortiz, “(Henry) wrote to me at once. He laughed at that. “

During a 14-year run with the Red Sox, Ortiz won three world championships, made 10 All-Star appearances and led the American League in 2006 after hitting a career-high 54 home runs. He lured connections with Coca-Cola, JetBlue, Mastercard and the sportswear line New Balance. Forbes last estimated Ortiz earned $ 6 million from endorsements between 2015 and 2016.

“My personality,” says Ortiz, “has attracted the attention of so many different companies. But at the same time, the secret of being involved in so many companies is your efforts.” Ortiz adds: “I want my personality to turn out. I want to give you 100 percent of who I am.”

In 2016, Ortiz joined former MLB stars such as Nolan Ryan, Vernon Wells, Barry Larkin and Torii Hunter to start Dugout Ventures, an Austin-based private equity firm that invests in consumer product companies. The company raised $ 10 million, according to The Wall Street Journal.

“I’m all over the place,” Ortiz said of his business portfolio.

Dugout has a stake in Performance Kitchen, an e-commerce platform for food delivery. This company sells nutritional meals to insurance providers and raised $ 81 million to date, including $ 12.3 million in 2018 from Dugout, according to Pitchbook. New York Yankees legend Derek Jeter is also an angel investor in Performance Kitchen.

In 2020, Dugout sold its stake in sports production company Marucci Sports in 2020 for an estimated $ 200 million. Ortiz, who is the director of the PE company, pointed to authenticity as a key when exploring companies to raise capital.

“Your product,” says Ortiz, “must be legal. I do not like to stand behind a product that is counterfeit.”

Ortiz says the crypto will bounce back

However, the Hall of Fame ceremony is fast approaching, and Ortiz admits that he was stressed. Ortiz is not a fan of the extra fuss that comes with the honor. There are a lot of requests from family, friends, “everyone who knows you and wants to come and see you.” Nevertheless, Ortiz plans to cherish the moment as “something that does not happen every day. And that does not happen with all players. “

However, the stress does not hinder Ortiz’s optimism. He still believes in a sector that is currently booming – cryptocurrency.

In June, Forbes reported that the crypto market fell below $ 1 trillion for the first time since 2020. The value of Bitcoin was also below $ 24,000. It is down from an all-time high of more than $ 65,000 in November 2021. Ortiz has supported digital currency since signing with the crypto platform FTX in October last year as ambassador. He joined top NFL quarterback Tom Brady and NBA superstar Stephen Curry in collaboration with FTX.

“The economy,” says Ortiz, is in a “critical” period as fears of recession persist. Meanwhile, inflation is causing valuations in technology companies to fall. But even though rival platforms like Coinbase reduced employees due to cryptocurrency, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, whom Forbes estimates his value at $ 20.6 billion, twitret in June, the company was to continue to expand.

Therefore, Ortiz suggested patience. He used his vision to offer a positive view. Crypto, says Ortiz, “is going to bounce back. When? You do not know, but it’s going to happen.

“Trust me,” he adds, “all you have to do is be patient.”