by Fashion and sports have long been intertwined, with the best athletes sitting front row at runway shows, acting as brand ambassadors and setting trends with their style.
In the past year that connection has only increased, especially among male athletes, who are showing more of their power and style influence and who may now have more influence on fashion brands than other public figures.
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“I don’t think the male consumer understands now that the athlete is like a fashion icon. I think the fashion world now is to see the athlete as a fashion icon,” said fashion stylist Courtney Mays, who works with NBA players like Chris Paul, Kevin Love and others. “I often say, men aren’t necessarily watching the Oscars to see what the next best tuxedo is to buy, but they are definitely watching the games that night. It’s great that the tunnel walk provides this window into the athletes’ sense of personal style and therefore their personality.”
In 2023, the style of the athletes was paid more attention than ever, with the NBA tunnel still as widespread as the basketball games themselves; the NFL tunnel becoming part of much-anticipated football games – thanks in part to players like Taylor Swift’s beau Travis Kelce, Joe Burrow and others – and the continued growth of Formula 1 around the world and the an increase in the number of brands participating in the circuit.
Fashion brands have stepped up their presence in the world of sport with new ambassadors and initiatives, such as Puma unveiling its F1 collection designed by creative director A$AP Rocky; Louis Vuitton signing tennis champion Carlos Alcaraz, fencer Enzo Lefort and swimmer Léon Marchand as ambassadors, while Tumi continues its partnerships with F1 driver Lando Norris and Tottenham soccer player Son Heung-min, among many others.
For many of these brands, these ambassadors are emerging as part of their most lucrative partnerships due to their extensive influence and reach.
According to data from Launchmetrics, many of the top performing male athletes in 2023 brought in higher levels of media influence value, which is the company’s proprietary metric of data and insights that provides total paid, owned and earned media across platforms social media, in comparison. for male musicians or actors.
Launchmetrics data shows that soccer players Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo led the ranking for the best male athletes in the first half of 2023, and each generated $1.8 million in average influence value. This can be compared to the company’s list of top performing male actors, which saw Zac Efron and Tom Holland in the first and second spots with $1 million each in media influence value. Messi and Ronaldo’s earnings were also higher than the top performing male musicians, who were topped by K-pop group BTS with $1.4 million in media influence value, followed by Justin Bieber with $1.1 million in media influence value.
This reign of male athletes and their star power was also seen at the bottom of each list’s ranking, with David Beckham in the top 10th spot with $504,300 in media impact value, compared to musician Chris Brown with $337,400 in media impact value and actor Leonardo DiCaprio with $205,900 in media impact value.
“I think the public is recognizing the influence that male athletes have in the fashion space,” said Kyle Smith, the NFL’s fashion content strategist. “A big part of that is with our athletes, we have to watch them in their greatest moments – when they’re winning and when they’re losing and how they react in the face of adversity. That makes for such an exciting, storytelling moment with our athletes that allows fans to really connect with them and therefore gives the opportunity to let our players speak and tell their stories.”
A number of factors helped boost the athletes’ influence, primarily their widespread appeal among fans, who are drawn in not only by their athleticism but also by their personalities, which in turn shed light on their respective styles.
Because of this widespread appeal, fashion brands can reach a larger audience by working with athletes across sports. For example, in 2023 men’s brand Psycho Bunny made a foray into the world of sport when it named F1 presenter Will Buxton as a brand ambassador and has plans to enter golf and tennis on major roads this year, which is part of the target of brand expand internationally. .
“Athletes are often seen as credible and trustworthy,” said Eddie Capobianco, vice president of influencer marketing at the NFL. “That could be mainly due to their commitment, discipline and success in their respective sports. We talk a lot about relatability and how many athletes are relatable figures who often come from different backgrounds and have overcome challenges to achieve their success. Their stories and journeys all resonate with consumers and make them more inclined to support and engage with brands that support athletes.”
This relatability is one of the reasons why athletes have become natural brand ambassadors for fashion labels, which are looking for representatives who embody their values in an authentic way.
“I wouldn’t say so much that they’re stylish for Tumi, but more that their diverse lifestyle has helped them become icons,” said Jill Krizelman, Tumi’s senior vice president of global marketing and e-commerce, of two ambassadors sports the brand. . “They’re bringing athletics and fashion together. What drew us to them in the first place was their similarities to our brand in terms of this kind of relentless pursuit of excellence and constant determination — this idea of people who are always on the road and traveling like part of their career.”
Diversity also plays a big part in the athletes’ appeal. While industries like Hollywood have long been criticized for their lack of inclusivity, sports leagues like the NFL and NBA have championed diversity, both in terms of race and body type.
“The NBA is overwhelmingly Black male,” Mays said. “The fashion world has had a very difficult time accepting Black male celebrities and there is definitely a huge gap between what they could offer to ‘any white male A-list celebrity’ into compared to minority celebrities. Athletes were kind of at the bottom of the totem pole for that. And, also, the fear of size. If you hear basketball player, you immediately think of someone who is seven feet tall, but I think there is such a variety in body types. There are so many different bodies in this world, why not show everyone the clothes?”
The number of games and public appearances that athletes make each season gives them plenty of opportunities to show off their style and experiment. For the NBA, each team plays about 82 games a season, with players like Kyle Kuzma, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Russell Westbrook and many others showing off their outfits from luxury and streetwear labels. The NFL’s 17-game regular season has provided similar style opportunities, with the likes of Kelce, Burrow, Deebo Samuel, Jalen Hurts and others making waves with their pregame looks.
“It’s our red carpet every Sunday, every game day,” Smith said. “Our tunnel entrances and those player entrances have the same impact and weight as red carpets in the fashion industry. It’s an opportunity for the representatives of the brands to wear clothes, to express themselves and, what I love about our players coming in, is that it’s every Sunday and we know to look forward to it every Sunday. Basically every Sunday is a fashion show.”
The influence of athlete style is not expected to slow down this year. With tentpole events like the Super Bowl in February, the Euro 2024 soccer championship in June and the Summer Olympics in Paris in July, it’s only a matter of time before more fashion brands get in on the action.
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