Welcome Back to Out2Win’s Weekly Report!

For those that are new here, every week I’ll be in your inbox with everything you need to know in the world of athlete marketing.

What to expect in this week’s edition:

• 2024 Athlete-Influencer Skincare Partnerships: Showcasing top collaborations and 3 athlete recommendations for brands.

• Alabama Football & Ryan Williams Social Media Analysis: Exploring the #1 college football team’s social media presence and its breakout 17-year-old receiver’s NIL potential.

• Jeremiah Smith’s NIL Partnerships: Highlighting Ohio State’s star freshman and his standout brand deals.

• The Next Wave Awards: Nominate the future leaders of the sports industry!

• WNBA Next-Gen Influencers: Featuring the top 10 women’s college basketball stars heading to the WNBA and its expanding fanbase.

🫧 Athlete-Influencer Skin Care Partnership Analysis

In the ever-evolving landscape of NIL in college sports, a new trend is emerging: skincare partnerships. At first glance, the connection between athletes and skincare may not seem obvious, but it’s a natural fit.

Athletes face rigorous training and exposure to different environmental elements, creating unique skincare needs. GRWM (Get ready with me) videos have been a perfect way for companies to showcase their products with athletes. This authenticity is fueling the success of these collaborations, creating a blueprint for more athlete-influencers and skincare brands to thrive together in the NIL space.

Strategic Partnership Approaches

Player Based Product Lines: Milani X Sabrina Ionescu
Partnership Execution: Milani teamed up with New York Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu to launch her own skincare line, designed to keep skin hydrated and refreshed. Sabrina promoted the product in several videos, but Milani extended the campaign by featuring influencer and soccer player Brittany Wilson to advertise the line.

Micro-Influencer Collaboration: Good Molecules X Alyssa Ustby
Partnership Execution: Good Molecules teamed up with UNC basketball’s Alyssa Utsby, a rising micro-influencer with a strong 79 Out2Win Score. In their partnership, Utsby has generated over 60K views across multiple TikTok videos, promoting various products.

Niche Sport Activation: Mil Usos X Taelor Moore
Partnership Execution: Mil Usos, a performance skincare brand designed for athletes, partners with extreme sports and jiu-jitsu athlete-influencers like Taelor Moore, who highlighted her post-training skincare routine in a standout collaboration.

Olympic Showcasing: Olay x Sha’Carri Richardson 
Partnership Execution: Days before the Olympics, Olay featured Team USA's Sha'Carri Richardson in a campaign highlighting how their products keep her skin looking its best both on and off the track. The campaign also introduced a special bundle of her favorite products.

Draft Day Intergration: Estée Lauder X Cameron Brink
Partnership Execution: Just before the 2024 WNBA Draft, Estée Lauder teamed up with Cameron Brink to feature her using their products as she prepared for her big day. With perfect timing and Brink's star power, the video went viral across Instagram and TikTok!

Our Value Picks For Future Campaigns

Leveraging Out2Win’s Intelligence Platform, our team has identified three standout athlete-influencers whose content styles and social media metrics position them perfectly to lead the next wave of brand marketing campaigns for skin care brands.

To Discover 150,000+ Athlete’s Full Marketability Profiles:

🐘 Alabama Football’s Star 17 Year-Old Athlete-Influencer

The #1 College Football Team on Social Media

Alabama football boasts the most-followed Instagram profile in college football, with 1.3M followers. They collaborate on posts with media outlets to boost reach, offer exclusive interviews, and recently launched an in-house podcast to deepen fan engagement and strengthen their connection with the team’s players.

Top Athlete-Influencers

Alabama's Premier Athlete-Influencer: Ryan Williams

Alabama secured 5-star recruit Ryan Williams last year after he reclassified his eligibility, making him the youngest player in college football at just 17 years old. Outside of his 4 receiving touchdowns through 3 games; here’s why he’s set to become college football’s next NIL superstar.

Podcast Personality: Williams launched the “New Wave Podcast” with fellow 5-star freshman Jaylen Mbwakwe in September, gaining over 20K Instagram followers in just three weeks. This has deepened his connection with fans and opened up new sponsorship opportunities.

Personality and Style: Williams is a genuine personality off the field and his distinctive style—complete with dyed hair and painted nails—mirrors the appeal of successful NIL superstars like Jared McCain, making Williams an attractive prospect for brand partnerships.

Social Media Growth: With a remarkable 117% follower growth in 2024, Williams has demonstrated significant momentum, but his 83% increase (112K followers) in just the past 30 days show his outstanding on-field performances are elevating his fanbase to new heights.

Team Collaborations: Alabama boasts the largest social media presence in college football, and with their enthusiasm for collaborating with Ryan, his reach is set to expand even further, engaging the entire 1.3M fanbase with select posts.

🌟 Jeremiah Smith: Partnership Analysis

Ohio State’s Wide Receiver Dominance

Jeremiah Smith entered Ohio State as the nation's top-ranked wide receiver, and with 4 touchdowns and 281 receiving yards in just 4 games, he’s quickly proving why he’s an early 1st-round prospect in next year’s draft.

Jeremiah is not only making waves on the field, but also attracting major attention from top brands in the NIL space, driving impressive marketability numbers in the past month alone.

Executional Breakdown

Each of these partnerships utilize Instagram for distribution, but leverage different marketing strategies to get their messaging across:

Chipotle | August 29th: 1.2M+ Reel Plays
Executional Breakdown: Chipotle teamed up with Jeremiah Smith on social media to unveil a groundbreaking deal with The Ohio State University, providing all OSU student-athletes with free Chipotle. By utilizing Smith’s social media as a platform for this announcement, the video gained over a million views, significantly boosting brand visibility.

Lululemon | August 24th: 1.9M+ Reel Plays
Executional Breakdown: Lululemon capitalized on Smith’s predominantly 18-24 year-old male audience by showcasing their products as Smith’s preferred training apparel. The two Instagram reels resulted in a remarkable paid post performance.

Red Bull | September 19th: 203K+ Reel Plays
Executional Breakdown: Red Bull signed Jeremiah Smith to their first-ever NIL deal with a football player, strategically establishing a long-term partnership with a future NFL star in a major college market. In the inaugural video of this collaboration, Smith showcases the brand while training.

American Eagle | September 19th: 119K+ Reel Plays
Executional Breakdown: American Eagle showcased Jeremiah Smith in OSU’s stadium promoting their products across multiple videos on social media. They also partnered him with teammate Caleb Downs to further enhance the campaign's reach within OSU fanbase.

For all CFB marketability insights, check out O2W’s College Football Athlete Marketability Report HERE

🚨 For All Future Leaders In The Sports Industry!

Sports Business Ventures is hosting the NEXT WAVE AWARDS as they look to celebrate the careers of bold and ambitious students and emerging professionals in the sports industry. Are you or someone you know setting new standards and reshaping the future of sports business?

Share your career journey and story with them!

🏀 The Top 10 Future WNBA Athlete-Influencer Stars

Top 10 Most Marketable League-Bound College Basketball Players

Here are the top 10 most marketable WNBA hopefuls that brands should invest in now, projected to be selected in the 2025, 2026 and 2027 drafts.

Women’s Basketball Record Breaking Viewership Numbers

With NCAA Women’s Basketball starting up next month and the WNBA just wrapping up their most successful regular season to date in 2024, here are some important numbers to note.

NCAA:

• 476,000 average viewers across ESPN and ABC, making it the most-watched regular season ever for ESPN platforms.

• For the first time, the women’s championship drew more viewers than the men’s.

• Improved TV coverage with games featured on major networks and prime-time slots.

WNBA:

• League-wide attendance surged by 156%.

• ESPN saw a 170% increase in WNBA TV ratings, with 16 games surpassing 1 million viewers.

• The first-ever WNBA game at TD Garden (Connecticut Sun vs. Los Angeles Sparks) sold out.

With both leagues experiencing exponential growth and a steady influx of rising talent from college and high school, the sport is only getting bigger. Now is the time to invest!

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