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LeBron dunks McDonald's, giving assist to Blaze

LeBron James will not renew his spokesperson deal with McDonald's and instead will put his name and social media clout behind Blaze Pizza.

October 8, 2015

LeBron James will not renew his spokesperson deal with McDonald's and instead will put his name and social media clout behind Blaze Pizza. James was one of the fast casual pizza concept’s original investors, but he is leaving McDonald’s to become a part of the Blaze marketing campaign, according to ESPN.

He, along with his business partner Maverick Carter, and Larry Levy of Levy Restaurants, also own the franchise rights for the brand in Miami and Chicago.

"This move aligns with LeBron's brand and his history of helping companies grow faster and bigger as an equity partner," Carter told ESPN.

While neither Blaze nor James will disclose the stake he has in Blaze, ESPN has reported that a source told it that James owns more than 10 percent, which is separate from his stake in Chicago and Miami franchise rights.

The social buzz

James, who has endorsement deals with Nike, Coca-Cola, Samsung, Audemar Piguet and Upper Dec, and has more than 24 million Twitter followers, is the second-most-followed athlete on Twitter. In media dollars, that means that each of his Tweets is worth $139,474, according to Opendorse, a company that specializes in monetizing digital and social media campaigns for athletes

Rick Wetzel, who founded Blaze with his wife, Elise, is banking on that following to spread the word about the brand.

"LeBron came on as a founding investor, and he had been silent and in the background," he said. "Now we're using him to get our message out there and put the spotlight on our brand."

Blaze has 88 locations and will have more than 200 locations by next year, Wetzel said. The company has sold the franchise rights to the entire United States to 44 groups, including the rights in Kentucky, Tennessee and part of Florida to former NBA player Junior Bridgeman. Bridgeman owns more than 100 Wendy's and 100 Chili's restaurants.