How sports marketing is evolving past the game, to the people

Brands chased champions, aligned with dynasties, and paid premium prices for podium placement. 

But now, that’s all changing.

As the world of sports enters a new era of post-live engagement, sports marketing is being disrupted by non-traditional participants, sharing non-traditional content in non-traditional media spaces. 

TL;DR A compelling mid-tier athlete with a great personality and a Twitch handle can be more valuable to a sponsor than a record-breaking champion with a PR team. 

This is the triumph of personality over performance. And it’s reshaping how brands think about sports partnerships entirely.

In the sports world’s new era of post-live engagement, members of Gen Z are twice as likely as Millennials to never watch live sports. As a result, fewer and fewer young people are likely to identify as sports fans.

Amid this landscape, however, some sports are surging in popularity.

• Formula 1 has expanded from a primarily European audience to a global network of over 826 million fans as of 2025. In turn, the average age of an F1 fan has dropped from 44 to 32, female viewership has doubled, and U.S. viewership increased by over 50%.
• In 2024, the WNBA achieved an all-time record of over 54 million unique viewers across television networks, saw attendance soar by 48% to over 2.3 million people, and set records for digital consumption and merchandise sales.
• Professional golf has also experienced a resurgence. The final round of the 2025 Masters, which Rory McIlroy won, drew a large audience, becoming the most-watched final round since 2018. CBS reported an average of 12.7 million viewers, a 33% increase compared to the 2024 final round, peaking at 19.5 million viewers.

The magnetic pull of big-personality, middle-of-the-pack individuals like Ricciardo has also made these athletes bankable brands in their own right. And, as a result, their role in a sponsored partnership isn’t just about endorsing products or representing brands. They are media companies, content creators, and cultural influencers all at once. 

In the world of professional golf, Full Swing helped raise Joel Dahmen’s profile, transforming him from an anonymous mid-level member of the PGA Tour to an undeniable fan-favorite. His self-deprecating humor and authentic struggles with the game struck such a chord that his social media engagement exploded by 1,600% from 2022 to 2023, while his Sponsor Media Value per post increased by a whopping 665%.

During the 2025 WNBA All-Star weekend, Minnesota Lynx players Courtney Williams and Natisha Hiedeman—together known as the “StudBudz”—committed to a 72-hour Twitch livestream that fundamentally redefined what athlete-generated content could accomplish. 

The shamelessly authentic stream was equal parts buddy comedy and documentary, and, with over 300,000 views, it was the perfect demonstration of how personality-driven content can transcend athletic achievement. 

Neither Williams nor Hiedeman was an All-Star, yet their complementary personalities created a more engaging viewing experience than many traditional sports broadcasts.

Their friendship became the product, and their sport became the backdrop.

For brands and marketers, the most successful partnerships of the future won’t be with the highest-performing athletes, but with those who best understand how to build genuine connections with their audiences across multiple platforms and formats.

So, how do brands actually capitalize on this shift? The answer lies in fundamentally reimagining what athlete partnerships can be. 

Here’s your roadmap for building meaningful connections in the personality-driven sports landscape:

Start with social listening, not stat sheets.
Before you even consider an athlete’s win-loss record, dive deep into their social presence. What conversations are they starting? How do their followers respond? Look for engagement rates that punch above their follower count—that’s your first indicator of authentic connection. Tools like Brandwatch or Sprout Social can help you identify athletes whose personalities are already resonating, even if they’re not making headlines for their performance.

Think content partnership, not endorsement deal.
The StudBudz phenomenon didn’t happen because Williams and Hiedeman held up a product and smiled. It happened because they created 72 hours of unfiltered, authentic content that fans couldn’t look away from. When structuring partnerships, build in creative freedom and content creation budgets. Give athletes the resources to tell stories that naturally incorporate your brand rather than forcing scripted endorsements.

Embrace the supporting cast.
Your next brand ambassador might be the sixth man on the bench or the mid-pack driver who keeps the paddock laughing. These athletes often have more time to dedicate to content creation, stronger connections with niche communities, and significantly lower partnership costs. Create a tier system that recognizes personality-driven value alongside performance metrics.

Platform diversification is non-negotiable.
StudBudz worked because it met fans where they already were—on Twitch. Your partnership strategy should span platforms, from TikTok’s short-form storytelling to Discord’s community building to Twitch’s live engagement. Different athletes will excel on different platforms, so match personalities to their strongest channels rather than forcing everyone onto the same social media playbook.

Build long-term narrative arcs.
The most compelling athlete stories aren’t told in single posts or one-off campaigns. They unfold over seasons, careers, and life changes. Structure partnerships that allow for storytelling evolution—the comeback story, the rookie journey, the veteran mentor role. These ongoing narratives create deeper emotional investment than any single moment of triumph.

Measure beyond traditional metrics.
Engagement rates matter more than reach. Sentiment analysis trumps impression counts. Create KPIs that reflect the new reality: community growth, conversation quality, content shareability, and brand affinity among highly engaged niche audiences. A passionate following of 50,000 can be more valuable than a passive audience of 500,000.

We’re witnessing the democratization of sports influence, where personality and authenticity can level the playing field in ways that pure athletic ability never could.

Even for athletes like Ilona Maher, a star rugby player, it’s arguable that the only thing that consistently outshines her performance on the field is her personality off it.

The brands that recognize the shift in sports influence early—and adjust their partnership strategies accordingly—will build deeper, more lasting connections with the audiences that matter most.

The future of sports marketing isn’t about finding the next Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan. It’s about finding the next Daniel Ricciardo or the next StudBudz: Athletes who understand that in today’s fragmented media landscape, being memorable matters more than being perfect, and being authentic matters more than being the best.

The podium might belong to the champions, but the conversation belongs to the personalities. And in a world where attention is the ultimate currency, that conversation is where the real value lies.