Helping brands to partner with athletes in their influencer marketing and sponsorship marketing campaigns

It’s official, the start of the 2020-21 MLB season has been pushed back to June 2020. We took this chance and looked at what some of our Opensponsorship MLB  athletes are up to during what was supposed to be the beginning of their seasons. Even with the season on hold, the digital presence of our athletes through their social media accounts have been stronger than ever. 

Social media platforms have given the fans an opportunity to stay connected with our favorite MLB athletes all the while following the current social-distancing guidelines. Social media has given us the chance to take a peek into the lives of these professional athletes. Being able to see their family life, the causes & charities that they care about, and of course the at-home workout routines have all been a source of both encouragement and entertainment. Opensponsorship has helped athletes and brands capitalize on this new found time and space by identifying and activating sponsorship opportunities. The Opensponsorship platform has given athletes an opportunity to build their brand while also helping brands partner with their picture perfect ambassadors. Here are some of our favorite MLB athletes on the Opensponsorship platform.

 

Matt Carpenter

Matt Carpenter is the third baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals and an avid fan of the outdoors. Matt is a family man with two young children, who he posts pictures and videos of frequently on his social media accounts.

Matt understands the value of giving back to the community, this is why you can see him working alongside charities such as the Homers for Health, Cardinal Gennon Children’s Foundation. Click here to work with Matt Carpenter.

 

Alex Bregman

Alex Bregman is another third baseman for the Houston Astros. As a former World Series champion and an MVP,  Alex is no stranger to the spotlight. Alex knows the value of hard work and understands the importance of community. This is why you can see Alex giving back to organizations such as FeedHou (post shown below). Fun fact: Alex has his own podcast and also is the founder of the non-profit organizationBergmanCares. Click here to partner up with Alex Bregman.

 

Jon Duplantier

Jon Duplantier is a pitcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Although he may only be in his fifth year in the MLB, Jon is already considered an All-Star on the Opensponsorship platform. Jon has worked with multiple brands, and has accumulated countless 5-star ratings on his sponsorship deals for professionalism, attention to detail, and timeliness. Click here to work with Jon Duplantier.

 

Kole Enright

Kole Enright is a second baseman for the Texas Rangers, and at only 22 years old he already understands the importance of branding. Kole has completed a number of sponsorship deals with multiple brands all the while receiving 5-star ratings. Kole is described as professional and has proven his ability to conduct seamless deals. Kole cares deeply about charities such as Love Made Visible and Habitat for Humanity, and this is evident throughout his social media presence. Here’s achance to work with Kole Enright.

 

Alex Katz

Alex Katz is pitcher for the Kansas City Royals, who has already created an illustrious career for himself at the MLB. Alex has brought his enthusiasm, energy, and professionalism to the Opensponsorship platform. As proof, Alex has been awarded with the 5-star rating on the platform. Alex is a caring soul who knows his impact on his community. Alex is regularly working on the charity Pitch in for Baseball, which can be seen on his Instagram and other social media accounts. Find an opportunity to partner with Alex Katz.

 

Justin Turner

Justin Turner is a third baseman for the LA Dodgers and a newcomer to the platform. Justin brings on his massive following of 750k+ through his Twitter and Instagram accounts. Justin provides quality content which is a huge plus to any brands that will be sponsoring him through the Opensponsorship platform. Work with Justin Turner here.

 

Kyle Schwarber

Kyle Schwarber is an outfielder for the Chicago Cubs and a former World Series Champion. Outside of his profession, Kyle is also the proud founder and operator of his own charity the Neighborhood Heroes. Kyle is the perfect candidate for brand sponsorships, as he is known for his family oriented character and his selflessness throughout his community. Send Kyle Schwarber a message here on our platform.

 

Eddie Rosario

Eddie Rosario is a left fielder for the Minnesota Twins and a two-time silver medalist of the World Baseball Classic. Known as a national baseball hero from Puerto Rico, Eddie looks to cement his legacy into his newfound role in the MLB. Eddie is a family man who posts frequently about his family and loved ones on his social media accounts. Partner with Eddie on the platform here.

 

CJ Edwards

CJ Edwards is a pitcher for the Chicago Cubs and a former World Series champion. CJ loves to post about his family on his social media accounts. One can easily find adorable pictures of his children everywhere on his profiles. CJ is great at exhibiting his love for his family and the game. Work with CJ here.

 

Blake Swihart

Blake Swihart is a catcher for the Texas Rangers, and another former World Series champion. Blake is soon to be a dad, and he is more than excited to show it! Blake is a great candidate for sponsorship campaigns as he enters a new phase in his life, giving new visibility to the novel aspects of his life. Partner with Blake Swihart here.

These are just a few of our amazing athletes who are on our platform today. Check out the rest of our MLB athletes here or view all 6,000+ athletes here on the platform to find the perfect partner for your next sponsorship campaign.

 

We at OpenSponsorship have taken it upon ourselves to find the cheapest, best at home workout programs as well as the best home gym equipment you can buy. In these uncertain times routine exercise can be a life saver both physically and mentally. Most of us find ourselves outside of our normal exercise routine, and it can be tough to figure out how to maintain a sense of normalcy. Here is a list of cheap home workout programs for a variety of fitness goals as well as the best home gym equipment you can get without breaking the bank.

 

Best home workout programs:

1. Chad Wesley Smith of Juggernaut Training Systems free Minimal Equipment Workout Template - this is for any of you advanced lifters who are worried about losing gains during this barbell hiatus.
2. Daily Workout Apps is a cheap home workout program that allows you to target which area of your physique you want to work. The app is free and ready to go upon downloading.
3. Asana Rebel - There is both a free and a premium version of this yoga-centric app. If you are looking for a cheap at home workout that encompasses body and mind look no further.
4. Resistance band only training - We have created a youtube playlist of top industry professionals sharing at home workout tips using resistance bands only. This is an easy way to maintain muscle size and strength with cheap home workout equipment. The playlist includes chest, back, shoulders and leg movements to get you off the couch or away from the home work station.
   
5. Insanity home workout program - This well known workout program is not as cost effective as the other options on this list, but goes more in-depth regarding nutrition and reasoning behind the programming itself.

 

Now that you have a good idea of which home workout program is best for you let’s talk which cheap home workout equipment you can invest in to ensure your gains stay protected. Here is a list of 3 cheap home workout equipment pieces that are versatile enough to be worth the money:

 

1. Resistance band set - EliteFTS makes the highest quality weightlifting gear on the market at affordable prices. Check out their resistance band sets where you can choose how much resistance you want out of your bands.
2. TRX Home2 System - The TRX is a fantastic piece of equipment. The Home2 system includes workout programs and access to online training classes so you don’t have to struggle with programming for yourself. 
3. Powerblocks - If you’re like me you have thought about investing in a home gym, but realized you don’t have the space or the money. Powerblocks are a cost effective way to get dumbbells from 5-50 lbs for a fraction of what they would cost individually. Powerblocks are truly a cheap home workout equipment dream. 

 

It is important during this time of uncertainty that you make the right investments into your health both mentally and physically. We at OpenSponsorship are concerned with our readers health more than anything else and hope that you and your loved ones are staying home and staying safe.

 

Check out what else we are up to on our Instagram 

 

In a few weeks, families around the United States will be celebrating Mother's Day and thanking their mothers for all of the sacrifices they make every day. In the sports world, female athletes juggle their athletic careers with their duties as mothers, often even having to take time off from their sport during and after pregnancy to care for their children and get their bodies ready to go back to competing.

For this reason, athletes who are mothers can be the perfect influencers to include in your brand's influencer marketing campaign around Mother's Day. Read below for OpenSponsorship's Top 10 Instagram influencers who are athletes and mothers and about the sacrifices they have made for their families. They deserve all the love coming their way this Mother's Day!

10. Glory Johnson

Glory is an 8-year WNBA veteran currently playing for the Atlanta Dream. In 2015, coming off of her second straight All-Star appearance, she announced that she was pregnant and would be sitting out the entire 2015 season. In October 2015, 4 months before her due date, Glory gave birth to her twin girls Ava and Solei.

It is common for WNBA players to play internationally to make extra money during the WNBA offseason, and things were no different for Glory. When she was playing overseas in countries like Russia and China, her mother and sisters cared for her children. This was becoming increasingly difficult for Glory and, after two seasons of playing overseas after her daughters were born, she decided to return home.

Glory and her children Solei, left, and Ava, right, in their bedroom (Louis DeLuca/The Dallas Morning News) (Louis DeLuca/Staff Photographer)

In May 2018, Glory purchased her first house for her and her two two-year old daughters. In an interview with the Dallas News, Glory said, "Having to do it all by yourself is really, really tough. Pulling all-nighters trying to get everything done before the babies come was tough, especially through training camp, but it was all worth it." Glory set up bedrooms and a jungle-themed playroom for the girls, equipped with a projector on the wall, jungle green chairs, a grassy floor and a tree on the wall made of pool noodles, and, of course, a giant pink dollhouse. 

9. Montana De La Rosa

Montana De La Rosa and her husband Mark, both UFC fighters, are also parents to their 9-year-old daughter Zaylyn. Montana and Mark are the only married couple to be signed to UFC contracts at the same time, but that has taken anything away from their jobs as parents. Zaylyn is following in her parents' footsteps in the family business, too- she is currently the Texas state champion wrestler in the open division, which is nearly all boys.

Montana and her daughter Zaylyn preparing a snack. (Cooper Neill, ESPN)

Montana got pregnant with Zaylyn in high school and had to give up an opportunity to wrestle at Oklahoma City University, the 4-time consecutive national champions. She met Mark in 2014 when Zaylyn was 3 and got married two years ago. Their schedules are now mapped out entirely, full of responsibilities as both fighters and parents. In an interview with ESPN, Mark said, "She's a supermom. When I'm 100% into training, I come home and do house stuff here and there. She'll go into the gym and be a professional athlete. As soon as she's done at the gym, she puts her mom hat on. She's a good fighter, good wife, good mom." Montana made the decision to put her career on pause as only a teenager, which is tough to swallow for most that age. However, now, she couldn't be happier. Her career is on the rise, she has an incredible husband, and her daughter is poised to follow in her footsteps and have a career in the UFC as well.

8. Bec Rawlings

Bec Rawlings is an Australian MMA fighter and mother of two young boys. Her second was born just months before her first MMA fight in October 2011, leaving her balancing caring for her two young boys and training to begin her MMA career. On top of all this, Rawlings was also stuck in a physically abusive relationship with her now ex-husband.

Rawlings lost her first fight, but bounced back after that with five straight victories. After two years of hiding her abuse, Rawlings finally filed a police report in 2012 and made the decision to leave the relationship on Mother's Day of 2013. Her past only fueled the fire for her career, and she now lives safely and happily with her two boys.

7. Lauren Holiday

Lauren Holiday is a retired soccer player who played in the NWSL and represented the United States in the World Cup and the Olympics. She was a part of the World Cup-winning US team in 2015 and also won two gold medals with the Olympic team. In 2013, she married NBA star Jrue Holiday after the two met and started dating as students at UCLA.

Lauren and Jrue showing love to their daughter. (Lauren Holiday/Instagram)

In 2016, shortly after Lauren's retirement from soccer and six months into her pregnancy, it was discovered that she had a benign brain tumor. She gave birth to her daughter, Jrue Tyler Holiday, in September and had the brain tumor removed one month later. After the tumor was discovered, her husband Jrue announced he would be taking a leave of absence to focus on the health of his family. In February, three months after her daughter was born and her surgery was complete, she posted a photo of her daughter on Instagram and said she "had never known suffering like (she) experienced the last six months." Three years later, the family is happy and healthy with their beautiful daughter.

6. Sanya Richards-Ross

Sanya Richards-Ross is a former Olympic track and field athlete who won four gold medals during her Olympic career. While training for the 2016 Olympics, she suffered a hamstring injury and announced her retirement shortly after.

Sanya and her husband, Aaron, and son, Aaron II. (Sanya Richards-Ross/Instagram)

In college at the University of Texas, she began dating former NFL cornerback and 2-time Super Bowl champion Aaron Ross and the two eventually got married in 2010. Shortly after her retirement, Sanya and Aaron announced the birth of their son Aaron Jermaine Ross II and has spoken extensively about the incredible positive impact that having a son has had on their lives.

5. Jennie Finch

Jennie Finch is a retired softball star who was a three-time All American in college at Arizona and a two-time medalist in the Olympics with the US National Team. Her husband Casey is also a former MLB pitcher. The two are parents to three children, sons Ace and Diesel and daughter Paisley.

Jennie's first son, Ace, was born in 2007. One year later, Finch competed in the Olympics with the US National Team and posted a 2-0 record during the competition where the US won a silver medal. This would be her last Olympic appearance, but Finch's career continued on in the National Pro Fastpitch softball league until 2010. Finch absolutely dominated in his career here, posting a 35-8 record and a 1.08 ERA.

4. Cat Zingano

Cat Zingano is a UFC fighter and the mother of one son, Brayden. In 2013, the undefeated Zingano was set to fight champion Ronda Rousey for a chance at the bantamweight title. However, a torn ACL suffered during a workout stripped this opportunity away from her and left her with a long road to recovery ahead.

Months later, in January 2014, her husband Mauricio was found dead near their home. Tragedy seemed to keep following Zingano, and eventually she decided to spend time in Thailand to recover both mentally and physically. Away from the bright lights and constant media attention, she was able to get back into shape and recover from past tragedy.

She was surprisingly released from the UFC, but signed a deal with Bellator in August 2019 to begin fighting there. Even when things seemed like they couldn't possibly be worse, Zingano stayed motivated and has a fresh start ahead of her.

3. Candace Parker

Candace Parker's name has been in the spotlight since her college days, being dubbed the player that could transcend women's basketball and become the face of the WNBA. She did not disappoint in her rookie year, taking home the Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player awards in the same season. Then, 6 months later, Parker made the announcement that she was pregnant.

This, of course, meant that her career would be on pause. After giving birth to her daughter Lailaa, Parker returned to the court just 53 days later and didn't miss a beat. Nearly 11 years later, she doesn't regret a single second of it.

Candace and her daughter Lailaa. (Willy Sanjuan/Associated Press)

In 2016, Parker was surprisingly left off the Olympic basketball roster. When coach Dawn Staley took over the program, she talked to Parker and tried to lure her back to be on the 2020 roster, but Parker refused. She told the Daily News, “I understand the responsibility of it now, later in life when somebody does my daughter wrong, or she doesn’t feel that she was respected, I want her to have the ability and the amount of respect for herself to understand when it’s time to move on."

2. Sydney Leroux

Sydney Leroux is a star soccer player for the US Women's National Team and the Orlando Pride of the NWSL. Her and her husband Dom Dwyer, another professional soccer player, welcomed their second child Roux in June of 2019. Less than one month later, Leroux was back on the field practicing with the Pride and in September, she appeared in her first match since giving birth.

She was visibly emotional on the field after the match as she was joined by her 3-month-old daughter and later described the moment in a heartfelt post on Instagram. The caption read, "I love this game. This past year was filled with so many ups and downs but I made a promise to myself that I would come back. No matter how hard that would be. It’s been a long road but I did it. 3 months and one day after I gave birth to my baby girl.‬"

1. Bethany Hamilton

Bethany Hamilton is no stranger to overcoming obstacles. She has been in the spotlight since 2003 when, as a 13-year-old, she was the victim of a shark attack while surfing that nearly took her life. She survived, but lost her left arm as a result.

She was committed to continuing to surf and returned to competition in 2004, where she placed 5th in the NSSA National Competition in Australia. Her career continued into 2016 and she competed in, and won, several more events. In 2015, she and her husband Adam gave birth to her first son, Tobias, and later in 2018 they welcomed their second son Wesley to the world.

 

To learn more about these incredible athletes and many more and how you can sponsor them, contact an OpenSponsorship rep or send us an email at info@opensponsorship.com.

 

While scrolling through Instagram stories, chances are you’ll find at least one person asking you to swipe up or use their discount code. It’s easy, nonchalant, and we don’t think twice about it. Advertisers are using this type of marketing, coined affiliate marketing, as another way to promote their products. There has never been a better time, as an athlete or a brand, to get started with your affiliate program.

Although affiliate marketing has been around for years, many people are still not aware of what it is and have not yet taken advantage of the opportunity. As a brand, you are using a third party (the athlete) to sell your product or drive traffic to your website. You will give this athlete some of your product and a unique URL or discount code for them to share with their followers across all their social media platforms. The athlete will create content with your product and share it with their fans while providing the code. The URL/code can be trackable so that you can track the performance of the athlete’s post and, in some cases, pay them commission off of it.

As an athlete, it is important to remember that you’re more than a salesperson, you’re partnering with that brand. While you are endorsing the product, you should be doing more than just posting once or twice on your story. You must engage with your audience, who are now your customers. The more you show your followers that you believe in this product and show how it helps you, the more interest it will create. Check out Ebony's post below:

With the Coronavirus pandemic causing a major halt in the world, brands are being forced to cut back on costs. For many brands, spending your budget on a 30-second TV commercial is not financially feasible. Instead, you can spend a fraction of that and partner with an athlete. As a brand, picking an athlete gives you more control over who views your products. Rather than spending more money on an ad that may be seen by a larger audience, you can use athletes in affiliate marketing to focus on your desired target audience. You should also consider the type of ads you are generating. When you go on a website and an ad comes up on the top banner, what are the odds you click on it and go purchase something? Even if the ad is relatable, there is a good chance you will skip over it. Now, what if your favorite fitness instructor is giving you 20% off supplements? Odds are that will drive you to the website and see what that brand has to offer. Fans trust their favorite athletes and are willing to listen to their opinions. Athletes in affiliate marketing are a good way to effectively interact with customers and let them know about your product.

 

Athletes across the world are sitting at home with more free time than they could have ever imagined. As an athlete, no matter how big of a following you have, now is the perfect time for social media to be used as another source of income. All it takes is a few posts or stories on your Instagram to become an affiliate marketer. It is important to remember a few things once you partner with a brand. First, you must create a personal connection with the brand and product you are promoting. If you believe in the product, it will be easier to sell to your followers. Second, it’s important to diversify, but don’t go crazy. Chances are the followers you have are interested in the sport you practice. If you stray too far away from your niche, it could negatively impact sales. Lastly, stay on top of trends. Things change quickly, take the substantial rise of TikTok for example. You must be able to realize when something is trending up and when it is trending down and be able to capitalize on these trends before it’s too late.

Today, merchants see about 23% of their revenue being generated from affiliate marketing. With athletes having to think of creative ways to generate income, and brands trying to cut back costs, look out for affiliate marketing to take on a larger market share. Whether you are an athlete or a brand, capitalize on this opportunity for athletes in affiliate marketing and talk to an OpenSponsorship representative today, info@opensponsorship.com.