The athlete's economy is on the rise. Join us to learn about the trends, startups and investors shaping what’s next.
2023 was the year of the athlete-creator.
Since the NIL rule changes we've seen a growing amount of athletes merging the traditional athlete-brand with content-creation skillsets to present a new type of influence & business opportunity.
While NIL has its own set of rules, I'm curious to see how these athlete-creators will navigate the future of the creator economy — especially as many of them will be keeping their massive audiences well beyond their playing days.
The creator economy itself is at an interesting turning point.
Let's just say that it's growing up.
Creators are pivoting out of just “content-creation” and into content-powered entrepreneurship.
In Creator Economy 3.0 creators becomes businesses by shifting from monetizing attention (brand partnerships) to monetizing products.
This is where creator economy startups stepped in to help content-creators launch things like courses, e-books, paid newsletters, communities and more. But now we're seeing that this version of creator-businesses was just the starting point.
Creators are playing at a new level across three verticals:
Consumer Brands
Media
Investing
And painting the picture of the opportunities for the Athlete-Creators getting their start in NIL today.
CREATOR LED BRANDS
“The new creator economy has introduced a different way to build brands – one where many brands start from a known personality, not an idea. At the core of this new type of brand, there isn’t a strong vision, but a strong personality.”
Instagram, TikTok and YouTube creators have been leveraging their personality as a competitive advantage to build market disruptors.
Sweat is a fitness app that was founded by fitness influencer Kayla Istines in 2015. The personal trainer had been building her audience on Instagram for years prior to launching Sweat. It’s reported that one year after its start Sweat had generated more revenue than any other fitness app and today the estimated annual revenue is $100M (via Influencer Marketing Hub).
PRIME the hydration and energy beverage founded by social media celebrities Logan Paul and KSI has been described as “The Internets Favorite Sports Drink”. And by the numbers, it's the fastest growing beverage brand having surpassed $1.2B in sales in 2023 (via FOS).
CREATOR LED MEDIA COMPANIES
“A growing number of creators are leveling up their content production capabilities and effectively building out their own media companies. Turning a one-man or one-woman show into a platform.”
By definition content-creators get their start in media through publishing TikTok's, YouTube videos and podcasts. But they're now thinking bigger about how to extend the essence of their brand into bigger platforms or networks.
Alex Cooper, who ascended through the popular Call Her Daddy Podcast, launched The Unwell Network.
The media outlet is focused on catering to Gen Z audiences with “unique voices that embrace social challenges and personal insecurities through honest conversation” (via Variety). Fittingly, her first talent signings were top creators Alix Earle and Madeline Argy.
Serena Kerrigan, the relatable voice of millennial women, is launching SFKTV and isn't playing small.
Building on the core of her content, SFKTV’s goal is to become “the only destination that teaches viewers how to design their future, manifest their dreams and become the main character they were born to be” (via Variety).
Talk about infusing personality.
But this isn't just another creator subscription. In her release she says that SFKTV.com is “the future of television”.
CREATOR LED INVESTING
Last but not least is creator led investing.
For similar reasons above: the personality edge and opportunity to extend from individual to platform — creators are bringing their value add to the investing world.
The D'Amelio Family formalized their investments through 444 Capital. Their investment focus is on women and minatory led startups across DTC, Fintech, EdTech, Healthcare, and more.
The headline on the firms website: Join the #1 global Tik Tok influencers and their VC partners in backing the world’s next business giants 👏🏽.
Animal Capital, a VC firm “driving growth by leveraging proprietary marketing channels and increasing consumer awareness” was launched in 2021 by TikTok creators Josh Richards, Noach Beck and Griffin Johnson.
Creator-led brands, media and investing.
This is where the creator economy is and will continue to go.
Across these three tracks I'm excited to see athlete-creators bring their own twist and shake up the sports business landscape.
What Athlete-Creators would you like to see launch a brand, media company or VC firm?
Join us on LinkedIn to continue the conversation.
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