This post is originally written by Jenn Mamajek

If you didn’t know who UFC star Conor McGregor was when we gave his video game appearance a shout out in our blog post last week, chances are that you became aware of him over the weekend. Despite being 5’9”, he has become a giant within the UFC along with the gold standard for sports sponsorship.

On Tuesday, October 11th, Seattle Seahawks (NFL) cornerback Jeremy Lane posted to both Instagram and Twitter on behalf of our newest member - FanWide. FanWide is a social network for sports fans that organizes viewing parties for every team in every city.

Author Bio - Ian Warner is 2012 Olympian and was a All-American sprinter at Iowa State. He is also the CEO of FIXT APP which is a mobile app the connects injured athletes o the best injury solutions in their community. Ian also is the author of “Endure” and he has dedicated his life to helping others to lead and succeed.

Odell Beckham Jr. and Richard Sherman are the two most highly engaged athletes on social media. Both are OpenSponsorship athletes, contact them today to promote your brand and interact with their fanbase. Below, I discuss why athletes need to be good at social media.

One of the main reasons athletes benefit from having a social media following is the inspiration they provide for their followers. I follow professional athletes on social media because I look up to them as role models. A professional athlete’s work ethic is second to none, and people want to be involved and see how athletes are operating on a daily basis. Social Media has provided the public with a distant relationship that often doesn’t seem so distant given the nature of the athlete. The “bigger than life athlete”, is more relatable when I can see updates about them on my smart phone anytime, anywhere.  Inspiration is contagious, and all the better when it is being spread from a world class athlete to the everyday hard working person.