The Next Generation of Content Creators? Olympians
Athlete creators have taken center stage at the Paris Games, from cardboard beds to “GRWM” videos
Welcome to Talking Points by JSA, a monthly newsletter on the trends and topics defining public relations in gaming & esports, consumer tech, and digital media. Created by JSA+Partners, Talking Points will be delivered to your inbox on the first Friday of each month.
🏅 The Next Generation of Content Creators? Olympians
Just one week into the 2024 Summer Olympic Games, NBCUniversal has drawn record viewership, averaging 34.5 million viewers across platforms in the first three days alone – a whopping 79% increase from the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. The opening ceremony alone drew nearly 29 million viewers, making it the most-watched opening ceremony since 2012 and the most-streamed entertainment event in Peacock's history. With the Olympics historically struggling to draw the under-40 crowd, media’s top priority heading into the Games was determining how to attract the coveted Gen Z and millennial audiences in the social media age. If the viewership trajectory continues, it indicates that NBC has cracked the code to drawing these elusive younger generations (although Simone Biles' heavily anticipated comeback and the Parisian backdrop certainly didn’t hurt).
One leading cause of the monumental audience tune-in? Content creators. Earlier this summer, a study by United Talent Agency found that nearly 80% of US consumers who planned to watch the 2024 Olympics would do so via social media, and 75% of those who planned to watch were more likely to view coverage from celebrities, influencers, and digital creators than they were for the 2021 Olympics. And NBC took note of fans’ preference for vertical screens – bringing 27 leading creators, from streamer Kai Cenat to Harry Jowsey to LSU gymnast Olivia Dunne, on the ground to cover the Games for its first-of-its-kind “Paris Creator Collective” in partnership with Meta, Overtime, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube. Call Her Daddy star Alex Cooper additionally has her own broadcast series on Peacock, where she’s joined by celebrities, comedians, and more, in hopes of bringing her loyal Gen Z following along with her.
However, outside of traditional TV networks’ coverage and social content, a new generation of creators has been drawing global audiences to this year’s Games: the athletes themselves. More and more Olympic competitors are turning to content creation to pay the bills, especially in traditionally lower-grossing events like track & field or rugby. While the top 1% of athletes with mainstream popularity like Simone Biles, Michael Phelps, or LeBron James command hefty sums for sponsorship deals, most Olympians do not. In 2020, a survey of 500 Olympic-level athletes across 48 countries discovered that over half of the athletes didn’t consider themselves financially stable, and the years of training, equipment, and travel that goes into even qualifying for the Olympics is no cheap feat. Content creation provides a unique opportunity for athletes who are not in these top echelons of fame to open the door for new revenue streams.
With influencing as a side hustle, athletes can garner a highly engaged fan base that not only leads to bigger brand deals and payouts from social platforms’ creator programs, but also drives greater viewership to their events that can positively influence their pay in the long run. Take Ilona Maher, for example, an American rugby player who went viral at the Tokyo Olympics and is once again dominating the TikTok FYP with her comedic content. She now boasts nearly 2 million followers on the platform, despite women’s rugby traditionally drawing fewer eyeballs than other sports in the US. Her teammate Ariana Ramsey is following in her footsteps, recently telling Reuters that she views creating viral Olympics content as “a whole second job.”
US men’s gymnastics star Frederick Richard, known as “FrederickFlips” across social media, started posting gymnastics videos as a fun hobby during the pandemic, but quickly realized social media’s potential to change the course of the sport as a whole. He told NPR the ultimate goal of his content isn't to gain followers or individual recognition, but to get audiences to care more about the sport of men's gymnastics generally. Richard hopes his videos can play a part in drawing larger crowds to the sport and therefore open up greater opportunities for the next generation of male gymnasts – in terms of college sponsorships, brand deals, and more.
Hyper-famous athletes like Simone Biles have also leaned into the content craze, posting practice vlogs, dances, and even a “Get Ready With Me” (GRWM) video for the Olympic Trials that amassed more than 1.2 million likes. US tennis star Coco Gauff is also keeping fans up to date on her Olympics journey through several behind-the-scenes vlogs – showing everything from the less-than-ideal living conditions of the Village to a cameo from LeBron James with over 5 million views to date. The Village in particular has become a viral sensation and global fascination, with over 3.6k reality-TV-esque videos tagged #OlympicVillage, featuring athletes reviewing dining hall meals, showcasing the infamous cardboard beds, and more that audiences can’t get enough of.
As the first summer Olympics since the NCAA passed the new name, image, and likeness (NIL) rules in 2021, it’s no surprise that younger athletes in particular are prioritizing building their brands and setting themselves up for sponsorship success. We’ve long witnessed the powerful role that individual personalities and storylines beyond the arena can play in skyrocketing sports viewership (hello, Caitlin Clark), and athletes have taken note. The era of athlete influencing doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon… and we’re here for it!
📈 The Wrap Report
🤖 In digital media & tech…
Apple announced new immersive content for its Vision Pro, including a performance by The Weeknd, a 180-degree view of the 2024 NBA All-Star Weekend, the first ever scripted short film, and more.
The newest internet culture obsession? Kamala Harris. Following Biden’s announcement that he was dropping out of the race, memes including coconut trees (referencing a comment she made in a 2023 speech), Charli XCX’s “brat summer”, clips of her laugh, dance moves, and more flooded the internet showing support for Kamala. Kamala’s team is leaning into it – even changing the Kamala HQ X banner image to be brat summer-themed.
Google revised its decision to eliminate tracking cookies, now offering users a choice to keep or opt out of cookies. The change could significantly impact the digital advertising space, similar to Apple’s 2021 opt-in system for app tracking, which led to many users to opt out.
Twitch’s mobile app is getting a makeover – rolling out to all users across iOS and Android this week with its new TikTok-like feed front and center. The new app also has a Browse tab, an Activity tab to view notifications, a profile tab, and more.
🎮 In gaming & esports…
The International Olympic Committee announced the Olympic Esports Games, a new international competition set to be hosted in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 2025. While the IOC began engaging with esports as early as 2018, the new 12-year deal around the Olympic Esports Games signals the international organization doubling down on esports as an avenue to not only expand the Olympics’ competitive scope, but to reach younger audiences.
SAG-AFTRA approved a strike impacting several top video game publishers including Activision, EA, Disney, Take 2, Warner Bros. Games, and more. The strike follows over a year and a half of failed negotiations over how voice actors are protected against companies using their voices to train AI.
The entire World of Warcraft development team unionized this week, marking a new 500-person strong unit. It’s the first, and largest, wall-to-wall union at Activision-Blizzard, and follows conversations held between workers and the company as far back as 2021.
Xbox recently increased the price of its ever-popular Game Pass, and the FTC is now investigating behavior tied to the price hike that it says is “exactly the sort of consumer harm from the [Microsoft and Activision-Blizzard] merger that the FTC alleged.” The FTC sought to block the merger when it was initially proposed, but failed to do so.
New reporting claims that Riot Games was allegedly in the process of creating a competitor to the wildly-popular Super Smash Bros Melee, a title launched in 2001 but has been a long-time staple amongst the fighting game community. However, the game, titled “Pool Party,” was supposedly discontinued after Warner Bros. Games-owned Multiversus failed to make a splash with the re-launch of its platform fighting game title Multiversus.
🗞 What We’re Working On
Our founder and CEO, Jennifer Stephens Acree, shared her top tips for post-grads on navigating the dynamic field of communications. (Forbes)
YouTube star Ludwig and Red Bull Gaming are introducing Ludwig’s Streamer Games, a creator-first athletic competition with a twist. (Dexerto)
At the UNESCO “Change the Game” Ministerial Sport Conference in Paris, The World Technology Games (WTG) announced its upcoming first-of-its-kind, annual international competition in 2026. Intended to celebrate innovation across tech and science, competitions will include drone and electric vehicle racing, esports, robotics, and many more. (VentureBeat)
Yahoo appointed Brooke Siegel as Vice President of Content for Yahoo News to lead its global editorial and curation teams. (MediaPost)
ESL FACEIT Group and Level Infinite announced a new program with PUBG Mobile Esports that offers financial institutions new cards with perks that provide cardholders with in-game items and cosmetics. (Esports Insider)
Aerodome and Flock Safety announced they’re teaming up to integrate Aerodome’s drones into Flock Safety’s advanced crime-solving platform – allowing for faster, smarter responses to critical situations as authorities can have an aerial perspective of the scene before they even arrive. (Axios)
Lunar X and Theorist Entertainment launched their latest original development: LoreFi, a lofi music-meets-mystery storytelling IP. (Tubefilter)
Exploding Kittens unveiled a new slate of summer game releases, including the world’s first sword-fighting card game, a new line of adorable collectible characters, and more. (The Toy Book)
Evo was underway this month where professional Street Fighter player MenaRD announced his signing to Red Bull Gaming. (Esports.gg)
Professional FC Pro player Anders Vejrgang won the inaugural EA Sports FC Pro World Championship in Berlin and claimed $250,000 of the $1 million prize pool. (Field Level Media)
Thank You! 👋
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