Detroit Lions wide receiver Marvin Jones Jr. is not having Darren Rovell’s business critiques.
Things started out innocently enough for Jones, who shared on Twitter that he and his wife are becoming franchisees of cake shop Nothing Bundt Cakes, with their location in metro Detroit opening soon.
My wife and I are so excited that our cake shop in Troy, MI is near completion! Gonna be epic! #StayTuned pic.twitter.com/frt1t4yuqz
— Marvin Jones Jr (@MarvinJonesJr) May 9, 2018
Rovell, ESPN’s sports business reporter, swooped in with some questions about Jones and his wife’s business venture.
Most important part about opening a franchise is to understand that franchisor fees come off gross sales, not net sales. This franchisor, for example, takes 9% of gross sales for a marketing and royalty fee. Is the brand that valuable vs just opening a new cake shop? https://t.co/l4wX3zBKSX
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) May 9, 2018
What Rovell may not have been expecting was a quick response from Jones, who was very much not having it.
Hey smart ass . Don’t you think if we wanted to open up a new one, I would have? Infrastructure that’s already in place (easy) with Godly recipes, wife loves and is passionate about THIS particular shop. That’s why SHE owns it.
— Marvin Jones Jr (@MarvinJonesJr) May 9, 2018
You wanna talk #s atleast try & get ahold of me directly (you cant btw) instead of google searching. Quit pocket watchin, if you don’t know what that means look it up. I dont make wrong moves trust me I understand it all. You must not know how to make a wife happy #weirdo
— Marvin Jones Jr (@MarvinJonesJr) May 9, 2018
Jones won a lot of praise on Twitter for talking back to Rovell, whose brand of sports business reporting tends to be on the unpopular side, to say the least. Undeterred, Rovell argued that he was simply commenting on franchising and not specifically Jones’s case — while noting his credentials.
Wasn’t referring to your case here. Was pointing out franchise fees and the debate every new franchisee has to embrace — how much is the brand worth?
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) May 9, 2018
Hosted the most extensive show on franchising in television history, but what do I know? Was not saying this franchise is bad, just saying it’s a complicated deal. All are.
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) May 9, 2018
There are a lot of people — fans, athletes, and businesspeople alike — who find Rovell’s persona to be extremely grating. It looks like we can add Jones to the list.
