Ready, Set, Post
Published on November 13, 2020, at 6:45 p.m.
by Katelyn Lambert.
Tom Brady’s personal Instagram account has over 6 million more followers than his team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Fans are becoming more loyal to their favorite athletes than to the players’ teams. Social media has allowed athletes to build their personal brands and increase engagement like never before. From providing fans with an inside look at the locker room after a game to giving them a peek into the athletes’ personal lives, athletes themselves are taking advantage of the power they hold on social media.
It is reported that one in five student-athletes uses social media, which isn’t surprising at all. Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury has even implemented cellphone breaks during meetings. Kingsbury stated, “You start to see kind of hands twitching and legs shaking, and you know they need to get that social media fix, so we’ll let them hop over there and then get back in the meeting and refocus.”
We as fans get to see the athletes as people rather than just players on the field thanks to social media. It has also allowed users to connect with athletes on a personal level more than ever. Fans feel a sense of intimacy when they can follow their favorite players and see what happens off the field. The athlete and fan can interact directly on a social media platform, which is huge for fan engagement.
Going “live” on social media is a popular thing for athletes to do to allow fans to see inside the action. For example, after the Alabama vs. Tennessee football game, I received multiple notifications that players were “live,” showing the locker room and the tradition of smoking cigars after a victory.
Not only are athletes taking us places where tickets cannot, but they are also becoming influencers. Take Patrick Mahomes for example: He is the reigning Super Bowl MVP and an obvious choice for brand endorsements. While scrolling through Mahomes’ Instagram, one will see a mix between brand endorsements, social activism and personal life. He is able to have a sense of normalcy when it comes to his social media pages but also build his brand as a household name.
Athletes are even breaking into the world of TikTok. JuJu Smith-Schuster, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ wide receiver, has 2.2 million followers on the popular app. Smith-Schuster posts videos of him practicing his celebratory touchdown dances while also promoting brands through sponsored videos.
Social media has become a platform for athletes to build their brands and become popular even if they are not key players. It allows the athlete to become a media producer and creates a sense of immediacy to share and receive content.
