AXIA Time expanding into NIL off College Football Playoff success
As John Kanaras tells the story, if you know lacrosse, you’ve probably seen the “Air Gait” play.
In the 1988 NCAA tournament semifinals, Penn traveled to Syracuse for the Final Four bout. Midfielder Gary Gait scored twice that day, standing behind the net and leaping – almost like a basketball player for a dunk – outside the crease while tilting his stick and putting it past the goalie.
Gait and Syracuse won 11-10 that day, eventually winning the national title. Kanaras was the goalkeeper for the Quakers. The NCAA would later ban the move that Gait used.
Nearly 35 years later, Kanaras still tells the Gait story. But now, it’s not his go-to story. Instead it’s the launching point for his passion project or as he likes to joke, his “mid-life crisis.” Once the 1988 season wrapped up, Penn gifted the entire team watches to celebrate the historic campaign. But it never lived up to what the 1988 season meant to him.
That feeling has led him to create AXIA Time, which is the officially licensed watch company of the College Football Playoff. The brand recently launched a partnership with Georgia’s Classic City NIL collective, too.
“The university gave us this watch that really doesn’t align with the memories,” Kanaras. “The style is not so great. The design is not so great. And it always created this tension for me, like I love what it commemorates and what it signifies. I still have it, but I never wear it because it’s like this crappy watch.”
He’s now trying to flip that script, delivering a sleek style that users will want to wear. A product of Greek immigrants, AXIA means value or worth, a nod to his Hellenic roots. While Kanaras’ side project has quickly grown, it all started with the watch from his college days. His first project was a timepiece recognizing Penn lacrosse’s 100th anniversary. Soon after, he started licensing out the marks for other Ivy League institutions.
What eventually gave him his break was creating and designing the watches for Virginia lacrosse when the program won the 2019 national championship. Swiss manufactured, Kanaras handgraves the back of each watch and boxes each shipment. His company’s logo is not too flashy – a simple arrow is a nod to AXIA.
“After the [Virginia] watch came in, I was in the Collegiate Licensing Company headquarters in Atlanta, where I was there for my day job,” he said. “My day job is vaccines, I’m the U.S. general manager of a European-based vaccine company. So I was in Atlanta and I popped into CLC [Collegiate Licensing Company] to show them what I did for UVA. And they’re like, ‘No one’s doing this in the college sports base.’”
Kanaras soon was put in touch with the Football Bowl Association and introduced to the CFP, eventually signing on as the only watch company licensing the playoff. His business has continued to grow, creating watches for LSU and Georgia’s national titles. AXIA has added the title of officially licensed watch of the Rose Bowl and Naismith Award, too.
AXIA expanding into NIL
Kanaras and the Georgia-focused NIL operation Classic City Collective began conversations about a partnership in early 2023. With a product made for college sports, it was a no brainer for a partnership. Working with executive director Matt Hibbs, AXIA donated a few watches for a charity event. Georgia head coach Kirby Smart signed the boxes the timepieces were in; the women’s watch sold for $3,000 while the men’s sold for upwards of $6,000.
That was the start of the relationship between Kanaras’ brand and Classic City.
“That was proof of concept enough for us to say, ‘Let’s give this a try for the upcoming season,’” the AXIA founder said. “We’ve got a certain arrangement where we’ve created these limited edition launches with a Kirby Smart signature. We have five of the athletes who are also part of this promotional effort, and they are brand ambassadors for AXIA, not specifically for the Georgia watches.”
AXIA plans to continue to spend marketing dollars in the college sports space, teaming up with athletes to market the watches. Kanaras added he’s looking to team up with athletes to market watches to commemorate meaningful events like championships and big awards, like the Tewaaraton and Naismith Awards.
Georgia’s Tate Ratledge, Ladd McConkey, Jamon Dumas-Johnson, Warren Brinson and Sedrick Van Pran have all appeared on social media promoting the company.
It’s also another stream of revenue for Classic City Collective. As the NIL industry continues to mature and develop, now in its third year, collectives are looking for creative revenue streams. Some have launched alcohol lines or branded golf balls.
AXIA Time watches could be the next step.
“You can’t just rely on donors and knock on the same doors asking for donations,” Classic City’s VP of Strategic Engagement Patrick Jacobs said. “Different revenue streams are very important. If people don’t want to simply give just to give, we try and offer different ways that fans can give and get something in return. The watch is a great example. Different revenue streams to where it’s not that we’re going after the people that aren’t willing to simply give and help out and contribute.
“Now you can get something cool and unique while supporting Georgia’s NIL.”
On3 Elite assisted in the story, amplifying AXIA’s entry into the NIL space.