Are Influencer Partnerships Legit?

Commanders, MLS sign Influencers to Improve Their Social Brand

The evolution of the smartphone has given anyone the capability to go viral and make their stamp on the virtual world. It’s no secret that athletes are able to leverage social media to engage with brands and their audience - some teams in particular are well equipped to unlock the secret behind athlete marketing. 

Teams have expanded and upgraded their marketing teams to include whole departments to focus solely on content and social media - with the ultimate goal to promote their brand and athletes. Content pieces involving athletes are posted daily by teams, ranging from simple questions to get athlete opinions to more detailed holiday pranks. The point here is that the athletes are at the forefront of the brand, and are “influencers” for their team.

Recently, teams have started to tap into a new clientele to grow their brand - social media influencers. The Washington Commanders have recently added TikTok star Katie Feeney to be their Social Media Correspondent this season. Feeney, who has 6.8 million Tik Tok followers, and 2.2 million Youtube subscribers, is a longtime Washington football fan who will be making content with exclusive access to the team from the draft, to training camp, and throughout the regular season. This move from the Commanders comes on the heels of a major accusation of financial fraud with their ticket sales reporting. 

Feeney is not the first social media influencer to secure an exclusive deal with a sporting organization. In late February, Noah Beck was announced as the MLS’ first ‘Social Playmaker’, a role that will see Beck creating and posting content with the MLS on Tik Tok - including a weekly rundown of the MLS titled “Beck’s Corner”. Beck, who is a former Real Salt Lake academy player, has 33 million followers on Tik Tok, and over 9 million Instagram followers.

Based on the follower numbers alone, it is evident that these deals will expose the Commanders and the MLS to a larger audience, targeting a younger demographic that is all over Tik Tok and Instagram. What is interesting to see is how these roles develop, and how many teams and leagues continue to develop direct relations with social media influencers. One time partnerships and content collaborations are frequent in sports, especially on platforms like Instagram and Youtube - we often see our favourite personalities spend a day with the team in a practice session, or attend a game and record a point-of-view experience. Now, with an established role for influencers being created, we can expect the role of an influencer in sports to evolve. A full season, all access pass for someone with the following of Katie Feeney offers the opportunity to curate content at any point, and show 6.8 million followers an exclusive look at an NFL team and experience. Noah Beck’s weekly show could introduce 33 million users to the stars of the MLS.

The consequences of this could also go left and offer limited returns in the long term. Will social media correspondents replace social media departments in teams and leagues? How are athletes impacted? We encourage our favourite athletes to post more content on social media to engage with the fans beyond what they see in person and on broadcast; will these moves encourage more players to enhance their social media brand to become influencers themselves? One thing is for certain - nothing can replace an athlete’s perspective, insight, and opinion. Whether these developments are a threat or opportunity, the influence of the athlete will always give them an upper hand on other influences in the sport media space. It all comes down to who can capture and entertain an audience.

Published: April 15, 2022 - Issue 34 of The Sport Marketeer