Scoring an endorsement deal with Nike or Adidas used to be every up-and-coming athlete’s dream.
Not only do these deals typically come with a hefty paycheck, an endless stream of free products and access to a global network of fitness gurus and training facilities, they also bring serious starmaking power. You get to feature in campaigns, trial new products before launch, show up at high-profile brand events and turn up to match or race days decked out in the latest gear.
A handful of high-profile names get all that and more the moment they sign on with the Swoosh or the Stripes. But the system doesn’t work that way for everyone.
Big brands like Nike have considerably pared back endorsements to focus on only the most marketable names in each sport. Other athletes receive small payments, or sign “product-only” arrangements. Contracts can be highly restrictive, with marketing obligations and exclusivity clauses that restrict them from wearing other brands’ items in public.
Now, several start-up brands and manufacturers see an opportunity in the disillusionment many elite athletes feel with sportswear’s giants. Stars like Roger Federer and Stephen Curry have signed with less-expected brands in the past — On and Under Armour, respectively — and labels like Skechers, Lululemon and China’s Anta have struck deals with top NBA and Premier League players.
The risks for established stars like Federer and Curry, or Kyrie Irving, are relatively low. But some athletes are also feeling emboldened to go this route from the outset of their careers.
Isaac Okoro, a 23-year-old player with the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers, chose to sign his first sneaker deal with the start-up Holo Footwear, because it offered him the chance to build his own signature shoe with a minority-owned brand, and to receive equity in the company.
Athletes now consider their endorsements as a way to differentiate themselves from the ranks of Nike and Adidas athletes, said Daveed Cohen (who helped broker the deal between Holo and Okoro), vice president of basketball operations and brand partnerships at Young Money APAA Sports, an agency founded by Lil Wayne.
“It shows that you’re somewhat of a maverick and a trailblazer,” he said. “There’s only 27 guys in the league with a signature deal and only six with an equity component — Isaac’s now one of them.”
Athletes Want Independence
Among NFL athletes and insiders, word is quickly spreading about a new footwear manufacturer, Fctry Lab. Founded by former head of innovation at Adidas-Yeezy and veteran footwear designer Omar Bailey, the LA-based company is making custom-built cleats for six players across the league to wear in the upcoming season, which starts in September.
Bailey traces the origins of his company to a chance meeting in 2021 with NFL star Jalen Ramsey. An Adidas athlete at the time, Ramsey was tired of playing in cleats designed for other people. He told Bailey he wanted his own cleat — independent of a big sportswear brand — that was custom-built to fit his feet, which the Miami Dolphins cornerback wore for the first time midway through the 2023 season after recovering from an injury.
Bailey describes his company as the antidote to the sportswear giants, giving each athlete their own signature shoe. Players work with Bailey and have input on a rapid process to create performance footwear to their specifications.
“Most of these deals [with larger brands] are crap. Think about it — in exchange for getting free product to wear on the field, you’re obligated to wear and promote their stuff … you’re basically a billboard,” Bailey said. “At that point, you may as well bet on yourself and use your profile to go and create something of your own.”
Word of Fctry Lab’s work with Ramsey’s JR1 cleat quickly spread from player to player and team to team. Bailey is now designing a cleat for an unnamed top-rated collegiate-level football player, and has his sights set on expanding his services in baseball and football (soccer) in the future.
Other start-ups outfit athletes who want to remain unattached to any brand.
For two years, Brooklyn running community-turned-sportswear label Bandit has provided unbranded kits to American track-and-field athletes as part of its “Unsponsored Project,” whose mission is to help athletes “declare their independence while chasing their Olympic dreams” and draw attention to the shortcomings of the athlete sponsorship model.
It worked with over 35 athletes competing at the US Olympic Trials last month in Eugene, Oregon, up from eight athletes last year at the US Outdoor National Championships.
Purpose Driven Deals
Athletes are also choosing to invest their own money — rather than have brands pay them — into endorsement deals that align with their personal values and interests.
Sokito, a UK-based brand specialising in football boots (also known as soccer cleats) made from bio-based materials such as corn, sugar cane, bamboo and Tencel wood fibres, onboarded its first athlete investor two years ago. It now has just under 50 footballers — male and female — who have joined the business as shareholders, and its boots are worn by professionals from the Premier League to the MLS, founder Jake Hardy told BoF.
One aspect that has enticed several athletes is the sense of responsibility and input into the design process of Sokito boots. Major product decisions are signed off and voted on in a group chat by all of the brand’s athlete-shareholders, who also play a role in recruiting fellow players as investors in the brand.
“All of this is an exciting proposition for an athlete — you’d never get that kind of opportunity with these bigger brands,” Hardy said.
Its high profile investor-ambassadors include Nigeria men’s national team captain William Troost-Ekong, who wore custom-made pairs of Sokito’s upcoming “Scudetta” boots during January’s high-profile African Cup of Nations tournament, along with Premier League players who are yet to be announced.
According to Hardy, some of its current player-shareholders are footballers who discovered the three-year-old brand through teammates or on social media whilst still contracted to Nike and other established sportswear companies. Those players chose to become silent partners until the expiration of their current deals allows them to wear and promote the brand’s footwear on the pitch.
As athletes continue to explore the value of their marketing power independent from sportswear behemoth brands, there will be increasing opportunities for savvy entrepreneurs and start-up brands who can offer them a way to cash in on their name, image and likeness while wearing products created specifically by or for them, in a manner that aligns with their personal values and stylistic preferences.
“It’s really important young athletes understand that they are a brand themselves. A lot of these brands use their name and image, and then just discard them when they’re done,” said Holo Footwear co-founder Rommel Vega. “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.”