Troota's CEO Joona Haatainen participated in spring 2024 in the selection panel for Finland's commercially most interesting athletes. For the first time, commercially most interesting athletes were listed in 2023 by 10.team, and the list, which generated enormous interest, was implemented again this year by 10.fi with the sports marketing experts' selection panel supplemented by two external members.
As part of the panel work, Joona studied in depth the careers and commercial activities of hundreds of Finnish athletes through both data and the experts' own analysis. The work offered the panel a broad cross-section of how Finnish athletes have built their personal brands and leveraged them commercially on social media. The project also raised further thoughts on how both athletes and sponsors can get more out of commercial cooperation.
As the panel familiarized itself with Finnish athletes' social media presence, it was quickly noticed that athletes whose content had diversified to include more personal topics beyond sports had often both gained more commercial partners and created a committed community from their followers. Many athletes still focus their social media storytelling primarily on sports performances, which leaves a deeper connection between the athlete and the audience unrealized. The approach is understandable, since social media is not the athlete's main job, but it leaves the potential of an already existing and interested audience unutilized.
From a commercial perspective, diverse personal stories provide sponsors with more traction than partnerships tied to traditional logo visibility. The community created by the athlete also increases commercial interest, as the athlete can additionally offer their own media visibility alongside their sports success. This creates opportunities especially for rising stars who do not yet get to shine in the brightest lights on prize podiums.
Sponsorship agreements are often negotiated at the outset only between the sponsor and the athlete. Unfortunately, often in the negotiation phase, all the parties actually involved in the work have not been noticed to be included even within the organization. If agreements precisely define the athlete's personal brand and, for example, the usage rights of social media collaboration posts separately from other stakeholders, the sponsor may later during the cooperation be in for at least some headaches.
If the brand's other partners, such as a creative agency or media agency, are to be included in the process to plan different types of outputs for the cooperation, the notes made in the agreement phase can limit possibilities and restrict cooperation. The best starting point for successful cooperation is to include different partners in sponsorship agreement planning at an early stage, so that potential pitfalls are avoided from the start.
In order to get the full potential out of an athlete's personal brand, it is therefore worthwhile to invest in creative planning and execution of the partnership. The implementation of commercial activities and sponsorship partnerships in athletes' social media channels is still quite varied – involving different expert parties in the cooperation multiplies the sponsorship opportunities for success.
Methodically and thoughtfully built commercial partnerships are at their best genuinely entertaining and value-adding multi-channel partnerships for followers, which simultaneously build both the athlete's and the sponsor's brand value. Influencer marketing and sponsorship in athletes' social media channels have already become relatively everyday occurrences, and the massive content stream on social media does not stand out by showcasing products from the sidelines.
Well executed, it is possible to create with athletes deep, impressive and genuinely emotion-evoking stories that also get consumers' hearts beating for the brand's commercial success.
Get to know Finland's commercially most interesting athletes here!
