Social media has become an integral part of a professional athlete's career and female athletes seem to possess some of the larger followings, giving them strong influence. Not only can this help the individual athlete but it can be a powerful tool in highlighting women's sport, bringing more interest and additional coverage.  Female athletes can also evoke change in other ways by being an influencer, such as by using their own personal stories to inspire others. “The stakeholders on the commercial side of sports are constantly searching for the next frontier, the next growth play,” Dan Cohen, who leads sports marketing company Octagon’s media rights consulting division, said in an email. “It is clearly women’s sports.”

Every athlete has a diet that works for them, but being healthy and fueling their body is key to their success. There has been a growing number of athletes who have moved to a more vegetarian or vegan lifestyle. Many of the athletes who have made the diet and lifestyle change now swear by it. This is not an easy change as professional athletes need to work with nutritionists to ensure they have the proper balance in their diet that would enable them to maintain their physique and to maintain a high level of performance for their sport. In fact a study published in 2015 in the American Journal of Health Promotion found that a plant-based diet can boost physical health and emotional well-being. As the lifestyle change has brought positives to many of the athlete's lives they often share recipes etc. with their fans and teammates.

The sports industry and its athletes have expanded their reach to the point of becoming influencers of fashion, lifestyle, fitness, and much more. Athletes can be a great resource to a brand and campaign in their ability to reach and connect with their fans and followers in a way that is hard to rival. In fact, the sports industry and market has been continuously growing, especially in this past decade, and is expected to grow by an additional 6%, reaching nearly $1,809.8 billion by 2022. The industry has grown in a way that has highlighted specific athletes and even enabled them to become household names as fashion and lifestyle icons. Much of this has been achieved through social media where athletes showcase more aspects of their lives and directly connect with their fans. Instagram drove more than $430M in Maximum Ad Value (MAV) during the first 9 months of 2019 with a 68% total value driven by sport properties and influencers.  Sports fans are a passionate consumer group who follow their favorite teams and athletes on various platforms where they see all the brands their favorite athletes associate with on and off the field. This is particularly true for youth because 32% of 13-36-year-olds, and 39% of 13-36-year-old males, follow athletes on social networks.

As of January 2021, TikTok has 73.7 million active users worldwide, and it's just getting started. The app is projected to increase to having almost 90 million users by 2024. With this rapid growth, new users are joining every day to create a fanbase like Charli D’Amelio or enhancing their following like Russel Wilson. TikTok’s algorithm makes it easy for you to go from zero to one million followers in just 24 hours. Videos show up on users’ “For You” pages that closely match their interests based on videos they have previously watched or liked. The app shortly becomes addictive as each video is only 15-60 seconds long, just enough to grab your attention and send you on your way to the next. 

Propelify Innovation Festival powered by TechUnited New Jersey will be back from October 5th - October 9th, usually the event takes place in Hoboken, New Jersey, but this year the Propelify conference will be held virtually. This year our CEO Ishveen Anand will be hosting an athlete panel with Olympic gold medalist Abby Dunkin and top Powerlifter Leah Casciano.

Every four years, the whole world joins together to celebrate the talented athletes who participate in the Olympic games. This year, the 2020 Olympics were postponed to 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. This delay creates a unique opportunity for brands to launch long-term campaigns to drive continuous sales growth across both the summer and winter games. Who should the focus be for these campaigns? Olympic athletes.

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.