Redefining Olympic Sponsorships
Big brands, you're out... welcome, the new runners.
As the 2024 Olympics unfold this year across Paris, we’re not only watching a showcase of athletic prowess and achievement, but a convergence of sports, technology, and storytelling narratives via sponsorship. From couture collaborations to the rise of challenger brands, this year's Games are a testament to the ever-evolving ethos of Olympic sponsorships and the stories they can tell. For this article, we want to look at how smaller brands are working to take centre stage during one of the most popular events in the world, and how they’re effectively weaving storytelling into these brand partnerships.
Despite not being particularly sporty , I find myself mind-numbingly patriotic every four years, transforming into an All-American diva every time Simone Biles steps onto the mat or Katie Ledecky dives into the pool. Beyond feats of athleticism, there’s another intriguing aspect to every Games: how sports and fashion can converge and compliment each other, and how sponsorships can become a mechanism of storytelling and culture making. This year, revered designers like Ralph Lauren for Team USA and Dior for Team France, courtesy of LVMH’s sponsorship, have taken centre stage. Perhaps most memorable thus far is Team Mongolia for their opening ceremony kits, created by Mongolian couture house Michel & Amazonka, with cultural heritage and ancient techniques brought to life.
Amidst these high-profile collaborations unfolding during the opening ceremony, we now see the emergence of sponsorships from athletic brands as athletes take to the games. We can see athletes unboxing their merchandise from Nike, Ralph Lauren, Skims, and more on TikTok, with brands of all shapes and sizes clamouring to take centre stage during the matches.
Big brands are selective in their endorsements, often signing the most prominent athletes whilst leaving others with minimal compensation or ‘product only’ deals. It’s a disillusioning sponsorship model to say the least, especially considering track and field as a sport often doesn’t pay up in dividends. Runners typically depend on other sources of income, and Olympic athletes are not paid for their time at the games. It’s why sponsorships are so essential, albeit scarce in opportunity. Athletes, especially young, up-and-coming ones, need to turn themselves into a brand and understand how to use it.
Holo Footwear co-founder Rommel Vega writes, “A lot of these brands use their [athlete’s] name and image, and then just discard them when they’re done…It surprises me that a lot of these young guys are still pushed into the same old-school deals, and they get nothing more than a shoe.” This is why some athletes are gravitating towards these challenger athletic brands; ones who carry cultural capital in coolness by transgressing the mainstream, while also giving more creative freedom to their athletes. Outside of the Olympics, Isaac Okoro, a 23-year-old NBA player for the Cleveland Cavaliers, chose to sign his first deal with Holo, as it “offered him the chance to build his own signature shoe with a minority-owned brand, and to receive equity in the company.”
In 2020, Tim West founded Bandit, a Brooklyn-based running community that evolved into a sportswear label. Initially starting as a running socks business, Bandit began manufacturing other apparel by late 2022. The brand has made significant strides on the Olympic stage, notably through its "Unsponsored Project." This initiative provides unbranded kits to American track-and-field athletes, allowing them to "declare their independence while chasing their Olympic dreams" and draw attention to the flaws in the current sponsorship model.
Athletes, especially young, up-and-coming ones, need to turn themselves into a brand and understand how to use it.
Companies and brands are using their products to participate in cultural conversations and become aspects of the phenomenon. This is building off what we’ve written about merch, meaning that the products in the Olympics, both the sponsors for the opening ceremony outfits and the kits for the games themselves, become mechanisms of storytelling and community. The Games are always historically and culturally relevant, and attaching a product to them allows a brand to become attached to the history. Take Skims for example, who is sponsoring the games for the first time and providing merch for all the US athletes, alongside longtime heavy-hitters like Nike and Ralph Lauren.
Bandit Running, by that logic, attaches itself to a new story of the games: that of supporting and uplifting the lesser-known runners. They become motivators of greatness, an antithesis to the Goliaths of the sporting world, and open the door for other smaller brands to stake their claim in the cultural conversation. By addressing a ridiculous yet all too common aspect of the Olympics—athletes becoming unpaid billboards—they create their own narrative and story. On Running is experiencing a similar thing, just on a slightly bigger scale. They’re sponsoring Switzerland for the Games. According to The Business of Fashion, a cohort of 66 athletes are using the Zurich-based company’s gear across 18 disciplines. As a relative newcomer to the field (sorry, this pun is truly never-ending), it is estimated On’s athletes will win at least four medals, a step up from the 2016 Olympics where the brand only represented about a dozen athletes. These challenger brands, the bigger ones and smaller ones, are helping shift the spotlight from the brands, to the athletes themselves.
Bandit Running’s unique sponsorship model in the Trials and subsequent sponsoring of athletes in the games can teach us about thriving communities and support. Sports marketing expert, Jordan Rogers, highlighted the Unsponsored Project on Instagram, garnering over 3.3 million views and 315,000 views on TikTok. This exposure led to Bandit gaining approximately 12,000 new followers in a week. The founder, Tim West notes, "I'm sure the brand will see revenue benefits, but I'm more proud of the fact that 3 million people now associate Bandit with being good for the sport of running. Which, if I could have people have one impression of us, that's what it would be" (INC, 2024).
(Bandit Running) become motivators of greatness, an antithesis to the Goliaths of the sporting world, and open the door for other smaller brands to stake their claim in the cultural conversation.
The rise of these agile brands signifies a shift in the sportswear industry, where innovation and athlete empowerment take precedence over rigid, profit-driven sponsorships. It also shows a shift in brand perception; by staking a claim and uplifting smaller athletes, these agile challenger brands become, by nature, cool, interesting, and desired. It’s why brands like Salomon or Hoka have become what younger audiences want. They want a relatable narrative after all, and this seems like something Nike and Adidas have become too big to provide in the sporting world. As the traditional giants struggle to adapt, it’s clear that the future belongs to those who prioritise creativity, equity, and authentic engagement with their athletes.
Thanks for reading! Feel free to check out the rest of articles here. If you have any questions on how you can apply these ideas to your brand, please feel free to reach out to us at hello@truantlondon.com. Till next time!