Athlete endorsements are a powerful marketing tool that leverage athletes’ public persona, reputation and influence to directly impact consumer purchasing decisions. These relationships typically revolve around brand sponsorship and fall under name, image, and likeness (NIL) rights agreements, requiring the athlete to promote a product or service in exchange for compensation. This can include a flat fee, royalties on sales, or percentage of profit sharing. These partnerships often come with exclusivity clauses that prevent the athlete from promoting competing products during the length of the contract.
Athletes can collaborate with a sponsor to produce creative content that is used in advertising campaigns, such as commercials or print ads. It’s important that the agreement clarifies the intellectual property ownership of this content. The sponsor should either retain the copyrights or grant them to the athlete as a “work for hire” under federal law. It’s also crucial that the sponsor doesn’t interfere with the athlete’s ability to negotiate and enter into other sponsorship or endorsement deals with competitors.
Many athletes have a strong connection to their audience, and the right endorsement can generate brand loyalty and increase brand recognition. Athletes that promote social causes or contribute to broader cultural movements can have even more significant impacts. Nike’s long-standing partnership with tennis star Serena Williams, for example, has helped to shape the perception of female athletes and sparked conversations about equality and empowerment. Athletes that genuinely use and recommend the products they endorse can add a level of authenticity to a campaign that elevates its impact.