<\/p>\n
In this conversation,\u00a0Brian Collins<\/span><\/span><\/strong>\u2014also known as Essince\u2014shares how his background in music promotion and live events translated naturally into sports ownership. From launching the\u00a0Akron Aviators<\/span><\/span><\/strong>\u00a0in the U.S. to leading the\u00a0Hua Hin Manta Rays<\/span><\/span><\/strong>\u00a0overseas, Brian approaches basketball as both competition and culture. At the core of his work is player development: creating stepping stones for athletes to advance into higher leagues, coaching, and long-term careers. Looking ahead, he envisions expanding\u00a0Royal Heir Entertainment<\/span><\/span><\/strong>\u00a0into a platform that supports emerging talent at the intersection of music, sports, and community\u2014particularly in women\u2019s basketball and developing markets where opportunity can spark lasting impact.<\/p>\n Hi Brian, thank you so much for taking the time to share your journey with us. From building a career in the music business to owning professional and semi-pro basketball teams across two countries, your path is anything but traditional\u2014so let\u2019s jump right in.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n You\u2019ve spent years in the music business before stepping into sports ownership. How did your background in music, entertainment, and producing live experiences prepare you to run basketball teams and think about sports as both competition and entertainment? \u00a0I always knew how to put events together, make flyers, promote, etc so that part came naturally. As well as me starting my college basketball team while studying abroad in Thailand (player, coach, uniform designer, sponsor getter, etc). Most of my life has prepared me for the next chapter so I\u2019m grateful to be<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Your entry into sports started from a simple conversation on a music conference call that turned into concerts, after-parties, and eventually owning the Akron Aviators. What was that leap like\u2014from partnering on events to actually launching and leading your own franchise\u2014and what did you learn in those early seasons? Now you\u2019re not only in Ohio but also owning a professional team overseas with the Hua Hin Manta Rays in Thailand. How has operating internationally changed your perspective on sports, culture, and leadership? Beyond wins and losses, your teams have helped players move up to higher leagues and even into coaching careers. What does player development and creating real opportunities for athletes mean to you as an owner? As you look to expand even further, what\u2019s your bigger vision for the future\u2014more teams, deeper entertainment integration, or something entirely new at the intersection of music, sports, and community? Links:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source boldjourney.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In this conversation,\u00a0Brian Collins\u2014also known as Essince\u2014shares how his background in music promotion and live events translated naturally into sports ownership. From launching the\u00a0Akron Aviators\u00a0in the U.S. to leading the\u00a0Hua Hin Manta Rays\u00a0overseas, Brian approaches basketball as both competition and culture. At the core of his work is player development: creating stepping stones for athletes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2280605,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2280604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Where-Music-Meets-the-Game-Brian-Essince-Collins-on-Building.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2280604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2280604"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2280604\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2280606,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2280604\/revisions\/2280606"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2280605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2280604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2280604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2280604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/b>Actually, I didn\u2019t think about any preparation until I\u2019d already committed to it. I knew it was an opportunity I\u2019d regret not taking. Seeing someone else either succeed OR fail at it would have bothered me, knowing I could have done it. So I just jumped right in. In the kindest way possible, basketball players and rappers are very similar. The want to be in the starting lineup is no different from wanting to headline a show. I always felt players should want to be in the game when it matters most (not that setting the tone isn\u2019t important) or an artist should want to be on stage when the most people are in the crowd.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/b>The leap was pretty seamless as far as operations go. What I learned early on that shocked me, you could say, was the idea that I could not rely on all the local media outlets to support the team. I (foolishly) assumed that it would be easier to get press for something like sports than music. But I had a pretty rude awakening and realized if this was going to work, I was going to need to roll up my sleeves and work a lot harder than expected. I was coming straight from music so I didn\u2019t know any local basketball players. I could book all the local talent for a concert easily, but I had no idea where to find players. It was there I learned a key, and wonderful difference between basketball players and artists, which is athletes are more likely to share opportunities to recruit other players. So word of mouth spread over the years and we quickly solved that problem.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/b>Because I had the fortune to study abroad while in college, I understood the culture and how basketball is a growing sport there. The leadership is different because I\u2019m doing all my communicating, including payments, via apps and social media in a different timezone and sometimes with people who don\u2019t share a common language fluently. It takes patience and understanding. But people worldwide can see and comprehend effort. Communication is key to any successful relationship and team ownership is no different.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/b>It means everything. I\u2019m so proud of these guys for their growth. I know some owners want their stars to stay with their programs and I get it. If I had a team of all the stars who\u2019ve moved up could we have been multi-time champs? Who knows. But I know the fact that these guys have gone somewhere also ads value to our program. The stepping stones don\u2019t exist so we have to build them. And many have come back to help in various capacities, even if it\u2019s just to say good things about me and the team to future prospects. That means a lot to me.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/b>\u00a0I\u2019m open to other teams or leagues, and possibly different sports. But a long-term goal is to continue developing my entertainment company, Royal Heir Entertainment into the \u201cRoc Nation of the Minor Leagues\u201d. I want to develop athletes and talent who are on the brink of their big break and help them grow. But I\u2019m very interested in women\u2019s basketball and growth in developing countries, especially if it can not only boost local economy, but help further that aforementioned pathway for players to grow and have careers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n