Likes, Follows, Funding: The New Olympic Economy - Beritaja

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MILAN – Each Canadian jock competing successful the Milan Cortina Olympic Games relies connected a patchwork of backing to support themselves.

Sponsorships, national funding, grants, part-time jobs, prize money, the slope of mom and dad, to sanction a few.

Ever since the International Olympic Committee relaxed its rules connected what athletes could station connected societal media during the Games, athletes’ individual accounts person moved to the beforehand of that gross operation for many.

“For sure, athletes pinch large followings are making money disconnected societal media and capable to person a scope that could scope caller sponsors,” said Canadian cross-country skier Xavier McKeever. “We telephone it building your brand.”

The IOC was erstwhile iron-fisted pinch Rule 40 of the Olympic Charter, which protected trading exclusivity for companies paying hundreds of millions to connect their brands to the Games.

Athletes were forced to spell power silent connected thanking the sponsors who helped them scope the Olympic Games — precisely erstwhile it mattered about and erstwhile attraction connected their accounts was astatine its peak.

Facing unit from athletes, the IOC loosened its mentation of Rule 40 for the Tokyo Summer Olympics successful 2021.

The displacement reshaped the commercialized scenery for many.

“Athletes now, they really person their ain media channels,” said supplier Brian Levine, whose agency Envision represents Canadian athletes specified arsenic sprinter Andre De Grasse.

“When a marque partners pinch an athlete, they’re really getting their following, truthful they don’t request to needfully spell and sprout a commercialized pinch an jock and put them into a commercialized spot. They person the use of being capable to pat them for user-generated content.

“If an jock has 25,000 followers aliases 50,000 aliases 100,000, there’s that added benefit.”

The expanded expertise to marketplace themselves is simply a double-edged sword.

“Social media, of course, has a immense portion successful keeping eyes connected athletes, erstwhile you’re not connected TV. Our races aren’t ever connected television,” said bobsledder Cynthia Appiah.

“I would emotion to station more. I conscionable ne'er could create the contented because I’m truthful focused connected training, and past erstwhile I get home, and I’m connected the couch, and I’m scrolling, I’m like, ‘man, I could person taken immoderate photos and posted myself.'”

Sponsorship deals often travel pinch societal media requirements.

“It’s usually half of the contracts you get from large sponsors are involving societal media,” said freestyle skier Rachael Karker.

“Before, they utilized to conscionable return your picture, put you connected a aliases put you connected successful a cereal box. That was really they sewage that retired to the world and sold much products.

“Now, the main measurement group advertise is complete societal media, truthful if you’re being picked up arsenic an jock for advertizing purposes to effort to waste much products, you will beryllium needing to beryllium connected societal media a lot.”

A winning communicative sells well, but truthful does a quality liking story, arsenic biathlete Adam Runnalls discovered erstwhile he posted about bringing his knitting needles to the Milan Cortina Games, and his Instagram followers exploded pinch knitters.

After jumping from about 1,600 to 10,000 followers successful a matter of days, his relationship has now climbed past 28,000.

A station by fig skater Madeline Schizas asking for an hold connected a assemblage duty went viral. International media picked up the story.

“Athletes who possibly aren’t moreover for illustration fighting for for illustration the apical spots, for illustration there’s this 1 South African feline who is an influencer successful cross-country skiing,” McKeever said.

“He’s sewage possibly complete 10,000 followers, and his full marque is about coming from not skiing and past making the Olympics successful skiing.”

Opinion among Canadian athletes often collapsed on generational lines, pinch older competitors viewing societal media arsenic a chore and younger ones acold much comfortable utilizing it.

“Social media is crucial. To beryllium frank, I don’t for illustration it. It’s much of a symptom I person to woody with,” said 33-year-old speedskater Laurent Dubreuil.

“I’m very overmuch looking guardant to not having to do it erstwhile I retire, but for judge that’s really you link pinch people, that’s really you put yourself retired there, and it’s really you widen your instrumentality base, and that’s really companies find you attractive. I cognize I’m not very bully astatine it.”

Said 24-year-old skis jumper Abigail Strate: “I’ve benignant of ever grown up arsenic an jock pinch societal media. When I started looking for sponsors, it was like, ‘OK, really americium I going to do this?’ The champion measurement to do it is to turn an online presence, truthful I’d ne'er really known thing different.”

Strate boasts a pursuing of much than 18,000 connected Instagram, wherever her relationship blends her competitory skis jumping profession pinch glimpses of her individual life.

Some sports connection much attention-grabbing contented than others. Some sports boast a demographic that devours much societal media contented than others.

Some athletes person agents aliases agencies that will thief nutrient contented for them, but the onus is connected about to do it themselves.

“There’s an advantage for judge for athletes who person agencies and their ain in-house production,” said Levine.

“Life is unfair, and location are immoderate athletes who are built for the spotlight and are comfortable pinch imagery. Sport isn’t fair, nor is the trading of athletics and marque building of athletes.”

Veteran snowboarder Mark McMorris, who has 817,000 Instagram followers, has done good connected societal media via a operation of his easygoing characteristic and the ocular oculus candy of his sport. He sported a impermanent tattoo connected his bare thorax for a Dove run past year.

“Social media is massive, and location are immoderate immense positives to it. There are immoderate negatives arsenic well, but these brands salary you to promote,” McMorris said.

“We’ve been capable to show immoderate unthinkable stories passim my career. That being a portion of the job, I don’t really suffer slumber complete it and effort to person nosy pinch it.

“Social media allows america to beforehand ourselves, and it’s helped financially successful my career, and truthful I effort not to talk down connected it excessively much.”

This study by BERITAJA was first published Feb. 15, 2026.

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