On Saturday afternoon at SouthPark Mall in Charlotte, Cam Newton will be glad to sign an autograph for you.
It’s going to cost you, though – $125 if he’s signing a photo, $150 if he’s signing a football and $175 if he’s signing a jersey. If you want an inscription like “To John, Best Wishes” added to the signature, that costs an extra $50.
I don’t like this.
But I do understand it. Newton has the right to charge three figures for his autograph in his backyard, just as I have the right to disagree with him doing so.
And to be clear, this doesn’t mean Newton will stop signing free autographs. He already signs free ones, by the thousands. That most notably occurs at the Panthers’ training camp in Spartanburg, where he’s frequently the last player to leave the field so he can accommodate more fans. He also signs for free at other various charitable events, at youth speaking engagements – he did yet another one Wednesday at Ardrey Kell High – and on merchandise donated to charity. All that will continue.
What the memorabilia people are selling Saturday is guaranteed access, and it’s a common thing to do in the sports world. Peyton Manning and Drew Brees are among the hundreds of athletes who do occasional signings, for instance, and both of their signatures are more expensive.
“It’s not a cheap hobby,” said Gary Takahashi, whose Hawaii-based company has Newton under a multi-year contract for autograph shows. His company will run the “for-profit” show at SouthPark.
This will be the sixth autograph signing that Newton has done for GT Sports Marketing since he signed with the company in early 2011, Takahashi said. Three shows in Alabama and two in New Jersey came before this one.
“With this,” Takahashi said, “you know you are going home with a product. There are hundreds of people who come to an event like this, and a lot of them think it’s the best deal around. People really shouldn’t get mad about it. No one is being forced to come.”
Newton’s 1:30 to 4 p.m. appearance Saturday is sandwiched between Bo Jackson (noon to 1:30 p.m., $75-$100 for signatures) and Larry Johnson (4-5:30 p.m., $55-$65 for signatures). Saturday’s event is not a charitable endeavor and no one is pretending that it is. “We are not a charity,” Takahashi said. “We are a business.”
Carlos Fleming, Newton’s marketing agent for IMG, said Newton agreed to sign a memorabilia deal in part to deal with the fake and unauthorized merchandise that is rampant in the sports collectibles industry.
“A lot of the merchandise out there is not authentic,” Fleming said. “I’ve been with Cam before and he’s seen something with his name already on it and said, ‘That’s not my signature.’ I’ve seen 10-year-old girls begging him to sign a mini-helmet, and then you look behind them and they have a bag full of 20 more mini-helmets for different teams.
“Adults sometimes use kids to do the chasing because athletes are more prone to sign for kids,” Fleming continued. “There’s a real underground market out there. So this sort of thing is in the fans’ best interest. It’s an opportunity that wouldn’t exist at all for fans if it wasn’t set up in this way. They get real access. I can’t emphasize the authenticity factor enough.”
OK, so that’s the argument for the signing.
But this just doesn’t pass the smell test with me.
Newton has done almost everything right in Charlotte since he arrived. This, though, is a false step.
For some reason, it feels different to me when Newton is charging for autographs in Alabama. That was from a different time in his life. That’s like Troy Aikman and Emmitt Smith going back to Dallas to charge for autographs (which they do).
In Charlotte, though? Newton shouldn’t charge for autographs in his current hometown. That’s part of just being part of the community.
You see Cam in Charlotte? Lucky you. So then he signs the napkin you thrust in front of him – or he doesn’t, which he also has the right to do – and that’s that. No money is exchanged.
“There are a lot of high-profile quarterbacks who won’t sign in the city that they play for,” acknowledged Takahashi, the businessman who CNBC once labeled the “Autograph King” in a headline. “At the same time, there are people in those cities who are buying fake autographs online because they really want one.”
I don’t know exactly why geography matters to me in this case, but it does.
In many ways now, Cam and Charlotte are intertwined. Good neighbors. Newton has recognized that by increasing his charity work and community service and starting the tradition of handing balls to fans in the stands after touchdowns – using his superpowers for good.
But still.
The Panthers pay Newton plenty of money.
Charging for autographs in Charlotte seems a little cheap.
CAM AT SOUTHPARK
Cam Newton, Bo Jackson and Larry Johnson are all scheduled to appear at SouthPark Mall in Charlotte Saturday to sign autographs for a fee.
Times: Jackson from noon to 1:30 p.m.; Newton from 1:30-4 p.m.; Larry Johnson from 4-5:30 p.m.
Prices: Newton’s autographs range from $125-$175; Jackson’s from $75-$100 and Johnson’s from $55-$65, depending on what is being signed.
More information and advance tickets: GTSportsMarketing.com
