Fast ≠ Sponsorable

This applies across a variety of sports, just because someone is the best on the stats sheet does not mean they are the most marketable.

For example, in Formula 1, the 20 drivers on the grid are considered the best in the sport. The best of them this year has clearly been Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen in terms of wins, stats, etc. However, depending on your brand's goals, he may not be the most marketable on the grid. For GenZ consumers, the cheapest and easiest way to reach them is through social media, and if you’re targeting GenZ, Verstappen most likely isn’t your guy.

Verstappen's Instagram currently has 10.5 million followers and has an average engagement rate of ~2%. His most recent posts (all about his 3rd world championship) have gained an engagement rate of 5.38%. This isn’t a bad engagement rate compared to most mega-influencers (those with over 1 million followers), however compared to other F1 drivers, Verstappen doesn’t come close in average engagement.

(image: Formula 1 on Instagram)

Scuderia Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc (6th in drivers' standings) has 12.4 million followers, an average engagement rate of ~8.26% and 46 posts within the last year getting 1 million likes or more. Leclerc also retains his higher engagement rates on sponsored posts (recent helmet partnership post had an engagement rate of 5.23%). Williams Racing driver Logan Sargeant is ranked 20th in current drivers standings, and has 532,000 followers, yet he maintains a 7.88% engagement rate on average, with an engagement rate of 8.49% on a recent Ibotta, Inc. sponsored post and a 9.79% engagement rate on a sponsored post with Sport 24. Sargeant's lower following should be considered here, as he is in a different influencer tier than Leclerc and Verstappen, however his engagement rates on sponsored posts are still impressive!

This topic goes so much deeper than what I’ve covered in this post. However, when it comes to finding partnerships in sports the value an athlete can add to your brand and vice versa is so much more important than a follower count.

Originally posted on LinkedIn in October 2023.