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

In 2018, sports sponsorship produced over $17 billion in revenue and will increase to roughly $20 billion by 2022. These numbers come from all different types of sponsorship deals, whether it’s with a small startup or with the biggest company in the world. There are many benefits of athlete endorsements for both the brand and the athlete because it can generate brand awareness and brand equity, resulting in more revenue. Additionally, the competitive advantage that a brand can receive by partnering with a professional athlete outweighs the cost of having to pay the athlete to promote the product. With that being said, here are some top brands that partner with professional athletes. 

The Gatorade Company (Under the PepsiCo brand)

The Gatorade Company makes up 46% of the sports drink market (according to Forbes) and is known for its powerful drink that hydrates athletes. Athletes who endorse the brand include Serena Williams, Dwayne Wade, J.J. Watt, Bryce Harper, and many others in various sports. If you turn on the TV, you will most likely see a Gatorade commercial that features a professional athlete or their product on the sidelines of major league sports game. Therefore, The Gatorade Company is among the top brands to partner with both professional athletes, teams, and leagues to keep their product active and popular in the sports world. 

Nike

Nike spends over $6 billion on athlete partnerships alone, making them the largest sponsor in the sports industry. Additionally, according to Forbes’s list of the world’s highest-paid athletes, Nike represents over half of them. This goes to show that Nike has a huge competitive advantage over other sports apparel companies (such as Under Armour and Puma) because Nike makes up a large portion of endorsement deals with some of the most well-known athletes in the world. Also, Nike is so popular that professional athletes are coming to them and asking to sponsor their products, making it easier for Nike to put together deals a lot quicker than most. All in all, it’s no secret that Nike is a top (if not the top) brand that partners with professional athletes.

Mercedes Benz

Mercedes Benz might not immediately come to mind when you think about sports sponsorships, but they’ve actually done quite a few deals that make them a top brand. For example, Roger Federer, one of the highest-paid athletes in the world, has a deal with Mercedes Benz for over $5 million annually. Mercedes Benz also targets their partnerships with international athletes since they are a European brand in addition to sponsoring events such as the Shanghai ATP Tour. Nonetheless, they are still a powerhouse when it comes to all types of sports sponsorships, which is why they are recognized as one of the top brands that partner with professional athletes. 

Although these brands already have brand awareness and money to spend on large sponsorship deals, that shouldn’t stop other smaller brands from finding new athletes to partner with. That’s what OpenSponsorship is for; it is the largest two-sided marketplace for brands and professional athletes to connect about sponsorship opportunities, giving smaller brands a chance to attach themselves to various athletes. Who knows? The next big sponsorship deal could be from your company. Check out OpenSponsorship to see what athletes can do for you and your brand.

The Coronavirus pandemic has taken the sports world by storm, and athletes now have an unprecedented amount of time on their hands leading to an increase in the number of athletes on TikTok. Some are taking on new hobbies -see Giannis Antetokounmpo learning the guitar and Cody Zeller learning to cook and play the guitar (well, trying to). Some are doing their best to stay in shape at home- nice setup, Serge Ibaka! But most of all, athletes are more active and engaging on social media than ever before. The most interesting takeaway from this uptick in social media activity has been the increase in athletes on TikTok.

If you’re not familiar by now, TikTok is a social media platform where users can post short videos of just about anything they want- dancing, comedy, music, tricks, or one of the countless “challenges” that go viral on the platform. TikTok began to take off in 2019 has over 500 million active users, making it a great place for influencers, like athletes, to build their brand and engage with their audience.

The sports world began to take notice long ago, with teams, leagues, broadcast networks, and even team mascots creating accounts and regularly posting content, ranging from highlights, messages from players, and just normal funny clips. The NBA even invited TikTok stars Addison Rae, Charli D’Amelio, Dixie D’Amelio, Chase Hudson, and Jalaiah to 2020 All-Star Weekend. The former three made videos with several NBA stars, including OpenSponsorship athletes Nikola Jokic and Pascal Siakam, and even helped out Aaron Gordon with this Dunk Contest dunk! And now, with athletes home and quarantining, they have had the time to join in on the fun themselves, and we love seeing athletes on TikTok.

Philadelphia 76ers rookie Matisse Thybulle was one of the first- “the only logical thing for me to do at this point is to start making TikToks!” He has been regularly posting content, even taking the time one day to interact with a fan who was hoping an NBA player would notice his post. Star Grizzlies rookie Ja Morant joined in too, making a fake player introduction to help cope with him missing basketball. Young Thunder stars Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Darius Bazley teamed up in a different way than usual to perform one of the hundreds of viral dances that become popular on TikTok.

But it’s not just the young guys having fun on TikTok, even the world champ athletes are on TikTok! LeBron James and his family enjoy the platform, where LeBron’s son Bronny posted a video of the family dancing that LeBron later re-posted on his Instagram story. Retired athletes on TikTok include NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal who is a regular on the platform and collaborated with Forto Coffee to create a fun and energized post promoting their coffee shots that received over 310 thousand impressions and nearly 19 thousand engagements.

TikTok is the hottest social media platform in the world right now and athletes on TikTok prove that the sports world is taking notice. These posts garner massive amounts of impressions and engagement from fans and partnering with athletes on TikTok is the perfect way for brands to connect with these audiences. Talk to an OpenSponsorship rep today to take advantage of this opportunity, or send us an email info@opensponsorship.com