You Risk it All When You Have Athletes as the Face of Your Brand
Are you willing to risk it all and put your entire business in the hands of a single sponsored athlete?
In the fitness and supplement industry, athlete endorsements are everywhere. They offer a powerful shortcut, placing your brand in front of a dedicated audience by leveraging an athlete’s fame and credibility.
While this strategy can be effective, you are playing with fire. When you make one person the face of your brand, their personal life becomes your business, and one misstep can put your company’s future in jeopardy.
This guide will break down why this is such a significant risk and, from my experience in the industry, provide strategies to protect your brand.
Table of contents
Key Takeaways
- Single Endorser Risk: Tying your brand’s identity to a single athlete is a massive gamble, as their personal mistakes can directly harm your company’s reputation and finances.
- Financial Impact: Scandals can lead to immediate financial loss. For example, brands associated with Tiger Woods lost an estimated $5 to $12 billion in stock value after his 2009 controversy.
- Protective Measures: Brands must use protective measures like thorough background checks and ironclad “morals clauses” in contracts to mitigate potential damage from a sponsored athlete’s behavior.
- Brand-First Strategy: The most resilient companies build their brand around product quality and core values, not just the fleeting popularity of a personality.
Never Use People as the Face of Your Brand
Signing a star athlete can feel like a golden ticket. You get to use their celebrity status as the face of your brand, and you expect sales to explode. While that can happen, the situation can reverse in the blink of an eye. In my career as a sports nutritionist and coach, I’ve seen this happen too many times. I always advise brands to build their business on products, not people.
The history of sports marketing is filled with cautionary tales. A landmark 2009 UC Davis study on the Tiger Woods scandal found that his associated brands lost a staggering $5 to $12 billion in market value. This event was a wake-up call for the entire industry.
The list of examples is long and continues to grow.
- Ryan Lochte: The Olympic swimmer lost major sponsors like Speedo and Ralph Lauren after fabricating a story about being robbed at gunpoint during the 2016 Rio Olympics.
- Maria Sharapova: The pro tennis star was dropped by Porsche and Tag Heuer after testing positive for a banned substance.
- Ray Rice: The NFL player’s contracts with Nike and EA Sports were terminated after a video surfaced showing him assaulting his fiancée.
- Ja Morant: More recently, Powerade pulled a major campaign featuring the NBA star just before its launch in 2023 after he was seen brandishing a firearm on social media.
No brand is safe when a sponsored athlete makes a terrible decision. As the face of your brand, they are held to a much higher standard because their actions, good or bad, reflect directly on you.
Olimp Sport Nutrition Limping After Deciding to Risk It All?
Building your brand around a single athlete is a dangerous game, a lesson Olimp Sport Nutrition learned firsthand. The brand’s identity became almost completely intertwined with Shawn Rhoden, the 2018 Mr. Olympia winner. When Rhoden faced serious legal allegations, he was banned from future Mr. Olympia contests. This situation created a public relations nightmare for Olimp.
The brand’s initial silence on the matter drew negative attention, forcing them into a difficult position. This is a classic example of what happens when you risk it all on one person. The controversy immediately overshadowed their products.
If Olimp had focused on building its brand around product quality, ingredients, and results, the impact of Rhoden’s personal issues might have been lessened. Instead, their close association meant they were directly in the line of fire.
A smarter strategy is diversification. A brand like Gymshark, for instance, works with a broad portfolio of fitness influencers. If one ambassador is involved in a controversy, the impact on the overall brand is significantly smaller because their identity isn’t tied to a single person.
This type of event can happen to any company. Some brands recover, and others do not. The key is to ensure your brand’s foundation is strong enough to withstand the potential fallout from a sponsored athlete’s actions.
Everyone Makes Mistakes But Some Make Life-Changing Mistakes
As a brand owner, you must weigh the pros and cons of signing athletes to be the face of your brand. Are you willing to have your company’s name dragged through the mud because of an athlete’s poor judgment?
You have to consider your long-term strategy. An athlete’s popularity can be temporary. What happens when they retire, are no longer famous, or leave for a competitor? If customers bought your product only because of that person, your sales could disappear overnight.
Fortunately, you can take steps to protect your business.
- Conduct Thorough Vetting: Before signing anyone, perform deep background checks and a comprehensive social media audit. Professional firms can help uncover potential red flags that could become future problems.
- Insist on an Ironclad Morals Clause: This is non-negotiable. A “morals clause” or “character clause” is a contractual provision that allows you to terminate the endorsement deal if an athlete engages in conduct that could bring disrepute to your brand. A 2022 report noted these clauses are now standard in over 90% of major endorsement deals.
- Diversify Your Ambassadors: Avoid putting all your marketing eggs in one basket. Working with a team of athletes, micro-influencers, and brand ambassadors minimizes the risk associated with any single individual.
- Make Your Product the Hero: Ultimately, your brand loyalty should be built on the quality of your products and your company’s values, not the fame of a sponsored athlete.
Risk It All FAQs
What is a morals clause in an endorsement contract?
A morals clause is a specific section in an athlete’s contract that gives the brand the right to terminate or suspend the agreement if the athlete engages in criminal or scandalous behavior. It protects the company’s image and financial investment from the negative fallout of an athlete’s personal mistakes.
What are the alternatives to using a single high-profile athlete so you don’t risk it all?
Instead of relying on one star, many supplement brands now use a multi-tiered approach. This includes sponsoring a diverse team of up-and-coming athletes, partnering with credible micro-influencers in specific niches, and promoting user-generated content from real customers. This strategy builds a more authentic and resilient brand community.
Can a brand recover from an athlete scandal?
Yes, a brand can recover, especially if it acts quickly and decisively. A swift response, such as terminating the contract and issuing a clear statement reinforcing brand values, can help. Strong brands like Nike have weathered major storms, such as the Tiger Woods scandal, because their overall brand identity was more powerful than any single endorser.
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