When Athletes Become Brands

Sport in the 21^st century has changed, a lot. Athletes are not only the exceptional human beings who can do what most can’t with their bodies and minds, but also they are icons and symbols of icons, influence, and wealth. So why is this becoming the trend and how can this be decoded? Let’s dive right in.

First of all, we have to think about sport as a talent or a skill that can be quickly monetized, especially since it is also a job and one’s success is also due to their capabilities and skills. Nowadays, with more media exposure and fandom communities online, sport being monetized is just easier than ever. Second, we have to consider the factors of being an elite athlete. All athletes have to spend a lot of time training and preparing for competitions. This means they would have invested a lot of time, money, and energy into the sport. However, not all athletes will receive the same exposure as others, as it is pretty obvious that top level soccer players are a lot more famous than even the top level figure skaters, as an example, so the popularity of the sport quite literally makes or breaks the athlete’s income despite both spending a lot of time training and competing. This means, commercialization, brand deals, and sponsorships are sometimes a lot more important to athletes in niche sports compared to athletes in more well-known sports because soccer players get paid in very large amounts just by playing the sport for their country or club, while other athletes get nothing in cash for what they do. However, this can sometimes also be impossible because if an elite athlete in niche sports are not as famous compared to athletes of other sports, then brands would obviously go to another athlete. This then boils down to the power and the art of branding and marketing.

The biggest thing about athletes becoming brands is that their performance in competitions is no longer enough, as an athlete can be world-class but still invisible if they don’t have a recognizable personality, story, appearance, nationality, or now, social media presence. If an athlete wants to be successful, they would need to manage not only their training and competitions, but also their social media, fashion and appearance, interviews, sponsorships, public image, and personal stories. All of which are impossible to achieve perfectly all at once without a team or professionals in the realm. This idea of creating the creating marketable athlete raises one question: are we rewarding sporting talent just in the sport itself, or the ability to sell a personality/identity?

Even if an athlete is world class, they might not have other factors that can give them good marketing, and most of it has to do with their background, which is usually their gender, race/ethnicity, age, personality, popularity of the sport they are in, whether they have an interesting story to tell, and appearance. A unique point that the publis remember about the athlete is what will eventually sell, and this is a difference between two world or Olympic champions—one is unique because of their “unconventional” presence, while the other is simply “another world champion”.

Let’s do some case study here, because as a figure skater myself, I will mainly focus on the sport and athletes who I know of the best.

Let’s look at Alysa Liu. Her identity and fame revolves around her story of coming back to skating on her own terms and redefining the sport with her own personality. This markets her as individualistic and a symbol of being unapologetically herself despite others’ criticism. This story is a lot more powerful than just being a figure skater, as there is more emotional storytelling about the comeback, her childhood, her unconventional family, her internal struggles, her Wasian cultural identity, and all of this becomes part of her commercial value. Her success after the Olympics is not the conventional: athlete then achievement then sponsorship. It’s athlete, story, personality, fandom, then sponsorship. Her Olympic story is also not the usual version, it’s focused on her passion and joy that she receives from the sport, and through this unique identity, she has unlocked the maximization of her commercial value after her Olympic peak, transitioning from an athlete to a Gen-Z icon and a relatable Wasian girl. She personality and identity gives brands the chance to reach their Gen-Z audience with a touch of authenticity and distinction. Oh, and her hair too, that has become her iconic look which is definitely an important part of her personality and identity. The brands that she work with include Sephora, Rare Beauty, Nike, and Lucky Charms, which are all brands that are iconic to her peers and to her generation, but she also works with brands like Louis Vuitton, giving her a nice balance of both sides of her identity and commercial value. Her choice of taking a break this season is a wise choice—if she feels like she isn’t 100% ready now, then she should choose to not compete because that will not hurt her influence and reputation than if she fails and doesn’t perform her best at competitions. I think this is visible in the Chinese tennis player, 郑钦文, who is the 2024 Olympic champion, but wasn’t really performing so well this season in competition and a lot of Chinese fans are not really happy with her. They were attacking her for being too focused on brand deals and commercials and that she is “not a good player after all”. I just think that those haters should win an Olympics first before commenting their views on a world-level athlete. With that being said, I really look forward to Alysa coming back next season with her new programs!

Another athlete we can look at is Eileen Gu. Many people started to get to know her after the 2022 Olympics or just a little bit before that, but her presence in the media started way before that, as her documentaries have been around since she was 11. This shows how her mother is very strategic with planning her daughter’s success and was paving the path for her very early on. Her identity of being Wasian, also raised by a single parent, and working with so many notable international brands has maximized her identity as not only an athlete, but also an icon for Gen-Z and Gen-Alpha girls. The sport that she has chosen to take up—freestyle skiing—is not only niche enough to allow the world to see her unique identity, but also allow more people to know about the sport through her influence. This story is more easily remembered than more popular sports like soccer and basketball. A lot of the brands that she works with are luxury brands, such as Louis Vuitton, IWC, Estee Lauder, Giorgio Armani, etc, which positions her in the “elite” and “luxury” category. This way, brands can also reach their Chinese audience more easily and have more international representation.

One other athlete that I would like to note is Yuzuru Hanyu, a skater that any figure skating fan should and must know of. He has two Olympic golds, in 2014 and 2018, and has paved the path for countless Japanese figure skaters. His transition from being an athlete to a national idol is mostly just by his skating, so you can think of his success as skater then Olympic champion then national icon then celebrity, then an entertainer. His post-competitive career also raises an interesting question, and that is can an athlete’s commercial value actually survive after their sporting career ends? The world remembers him as a figure skater, and if he goes to do something else, would the world still see him in the way that he wants? Maintaining relevance after an athlete’s peak shows that winning isn’t the end goal, but more interviews, social media, starting personal brands, and working with brands as ambassadors is. This keeps them relevant and moreover, marketable.

When an athlete is trying to remain relevance, they would also need to be likeable, attractive, relatable, active online and offline, available to sponsors/is active with personal brand, and sometimes, politically or culturally aware. This creates a strange situation where an athlete’s personality can become a part of their job even though they are not an athlete anymore. This can also be a downside, as if an athlete stops being commercially interesting, will the world still pay attention to them? There is a risk that an athlete might not be their most authentic self once their identity is revolved around brand deals and commercials that are dependent on the identity that they monetize. Sports like soccer or just any sport will face the risk of having more people just focusing on their entertainment side or just watching it because of a few famous athletes and stars, while judging and performance can also become influenced by audience expectations.

All of this is a risk of the commercialization of sport and athletes, but hey, at the end of the day, sport is still sport, and what the athletes can do is still of their own capabilities, skills, and talent, so whatever some might say about commercialization, the athlete themselves still need to be good enough for the world to know them in the first place.

Let me know what you think of sport commercialization in the comments below!