NIL rules give brands new Olympics approach
College athletes expected to have major influence on Paris Games.
Companies across the globe are banking on the prestige of the Olympics and the stories of thousands of competing athletes to elevate their brands.
Forbes reported that 15 global sponsors have invested more than $3 billion in the Olympics, and many others are spending considerable resources on patriotic-themed campaigns.
Significant for the messaging efforts for this year’s games, which run from July 26 to Aug. 11, is the ability of marketing teams to leverage the formidable power of the name, image and likeness (NIL) of collegiate student-athletes who study in the United States.
“NIL equals more opportunity for the athletes and greater marketability for the Olympics and the brands behind it,” said Ayden Syal, CEO and co-founder of athlete-influencer marketing platform MOGL.
The influencer impact
Today, about 90% of marketers believe influencer marketing is effective, according to Meltwater’s State of Influencer Marketing 2023: Benchmark Report. Roughly 72% of those surveyed agreed that influencer marketing leads to the creation of high-quality customers, with more than half saying the approach helps them acquire better customers.
Having college athletes serve as brand ambassadors is relatively new. Historically, NCAA sports have served as a major feeder system for Olympic teams across the globe. However, it wasn’t until July 2021 that athletes in those sports couldn’t benefit financially from their personal brands without the risk of losing their amateur status and thus their college-sports eligibility.
The rule changes went into effect the same month as the previous Summer Olympics in Tokyo, and about six months before the Winter Games in China.
Because of the NIL rule change, athletes such as U.S. gymnast Suni Lee can now receive endorsements while pursuing both their Olympic dreams and a college career. Lee, a sophomore at Auburn University, won gold in the women’s all-around in Tokyo in 2021.
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The Paris Games mark the start of athletes and brands being able to fully benefit from this unique, once-every-two-years form of exposure.
Lee, who’s since had lucrative deals with the likes of Invisalign, Gatorade and Target, is competing in Paris as well.
“By allowing college athletes to maintain their personal brands and earn sponsorship deals, the NCAA has enabled them to build massive followings and increase their notoriety before even competing on the Olympic stage,” Syal said.
Engaging new audiences
College athletes are arriving in Paris with training gear, their uniforms and established personal brands.
Kyle Watson, Celsius’ chief marketing officer, recently told Sports Illustrated, said it decided to explore Olympic NIL deals after looking at this “new category consumer” and its “collegiate program.” The fitness-minded energy drink recently added University of Michigan gymnast Frederick “Flips” Richard to its roster of Olympic influencers.
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“We kept that same strategy of collaborating with athletes who were authentic partners, coming to us in many cases and saying that they loved our brand and saying that they wanted to work with us,” Watson said. “In a lot of cases, they were already posting content with our product and showing how they were using it in their daily lives both as students and athletes.”
Olympic athletes are poised to connect brands with key consumer demographics, especially younger audiences, according to Sports Business Journal. The sports influencers offer brands a “uniquely scalable influencer marketing strategy to directly target Gen Z consumers with affordability and enhanced targeting,” Syal said.
MOGL’s athlete lineup, which includes roughly 150 Olympians, are outperforming other influencers on social media, with engagement rates that are two times higher on Instagram and six times higher on TikTok, Syal said. He noted that the top emerging performers in the NIL space right now are women’s sports and Olympic sports, such as gymnastics.
Brands tapping into the NIL influencer market may receive an additional bump in exposure thanks to NBC promising to air more Olympic programming than ever before. All NBC coverage will also stream on Peacock.
“People want to see these individual athletes, who are just so much more prominent in the broader media landscape than they ever were before,” Syal said.
Syal believes the Paris Games offer a great opportunity for Olympics advertisers – but also beyond that. Undoubtedly, one or more of these college stars will capture gold or create a memorable storyline that brands will want to capitalize long after the Closing Ceremonies.
“The Olympics is just the beginning,” Syal said. “Hopefully, many of these athletes will develop partnerships and relationships that will last for years to come.”
PR Daily is partnering with Green Buzz Agency, Axios and MOGL for an invite-only Olympics reception in Paris. Come back to PR Daily for coverage of this exclusive event.
Casey Weldon is a reporter for PR Daily. You can follow him on LinkedIn.
