"Sponsorship" is normal and expected in MUT running, but overall it is a very uncommon and awkward model. From the NFL you mentioned to road cycling, being on a "team" is how most professional athletes are paid, while in other sports "prize money" is their primary income. In MUT, you win the Western States 100 and you get a big ugly belt buckle. Thus, sponsorship bridges the gap.
"Sponsorship isn't working" just means runners want to get paid more. Sponsorship works fine in that it represents fair market value; indeed the percentage of companies budget allocated to marketing (often sponsorship) is fairly high. Most (not all) professional runners are moving billboards; they are the same as any other ad buy.
OnlyFans is a good option, as it allows the entrepreneurial athlete to self-actualize their brand and revenue. But not mentioned is it's only an option for active self-promotors like Sabrina, because there's no Marketing Director setting up the photo-shoot, etc; they have to do it all themselves.
Oh, and hope I don't have to mention, that I don't care about OF's history of predominately adult content, and don't know why anyone would. We all know which is the "Enter" and which is the "Delete" button on our keyboards.
A well tempered comment that. I guess i would question how fair the market is, however the last public dataset we have of athlete income is over 2 years ago and if the recent news of athlete deals is anything to go by, i feel things would have changed.
“Fair market value” is a misnomer when the marketplace powers are imbalanced. It’s a valid goal, but many, if not most, of these companies are incentivized to maximize profits not share profits. Hence the rise of agents and other supplemental business roles athletes are looking to outsource.
I hope puritanical pearls don't discourage people from seeing the foundation of the platform. It works. Fans want to support their favorite athletes/personalities.
Being the first to take the sponsorship likely gets more attention than any other sponsorship could, and likely pays (at least) comparable to what any other company would, too. Seems win win.
OnlyFans, Patreon, Youtube Superchats...it's all the same. Personality > Fan...no middle man.
I like that OnlyFans is intentionally working to normalize the platform to all genres of content since it provides one more avenue for underfunded people to succeed. I want the people I'm a fan of to have as many opportunities as they can get.
In the future, I would love to hear more of your thoughts on “Focusing on her decision misses the broader point that trail running, and women’s sports more broadly, remains underfunded.” The gap between women’s and men’s sports is well documented, but I’m curious about your opinion on trail running being underfunded.
I'd be interested to see the reaction of the trail community at large. I was reading today that in the mountain biking world, some men got banned from UCI events for being sponsored by OnlyFans but when women got sponsored, they didn't get banned. I wonder if races with broadcasts (eg. Western States, UTMB etc.) will force her to cover the OF branding.
BTW I should've added, I appreciate your analysis. I know this is the direction the sport is moving toward, and I know pro-level athletes need to make a living to reach their potential. I just find certain aspects of it sad, while many others likely find it exciting.
You are free to have your own opinion on Sabrina's decision, but maybe try to put yourself in her shoes before being so judgemental.
Of course, we all would want to go the Courtney way or the Kilian way, but not everyone is Courtney and Kilian. Some people have amazing opportunities, while others might need to make do with the limited options they have. Sitting on your high horse and looking down on people who make different decisions to you doesn't help anyone, and in my opinion, it doesn't make you look good.
Ultimately, I deleted my comment because it is bashing, and I don’t want to deal with monitoring a controversial thread, but I’m glad I communicated to Matt my honest thoughts.
An overview:
"Sponsorship" is normal and expected in MUT running, but overall it is a very uncommon and awkward model. From the NFL you mentioned to road cycling, being on a "team" is how most professional athletes are paid, while in other sports "prize money" is their primary income. In MUT, you win the Western States 100 and you get a big ugly belt buckle. Thus, sponsorship bridges the gap.
"Sponsorship isn't working" just means runners want to get paid more. Sponsorship works fine in that it represents fair market value; indeed the percentage of companies budget allocated to marketing (often sponsorship) is fairly high. Most (not all) professional runners are moving billboards; they are the same as any other ad buy.
OnlyFans is a good option, as it allows the entrepreneurial athlete to self-actualize their brand and revenue. But not mentioned is it's only an option for active self-promotors like Sabrina, because there's no Marketing Director setting up the photo-shoot, etc; they have to do it all themselves.
Oh, and hope I don't have to mention, that I don't care about OF's history of predominately adult content, and don't know why anyone would. We all know which is the "Enter" and which is the "Delete" button on our keyboards.
A well tempered comment that. I guess i would question how fair the market is, however the last public dataset we have of athlete income is over 2 years ago and if the recent news of athlete deals is anything to go by, i feel things would have changed.
“Fair market value” is a misnomer when the marketplace powers are imbalanced. It’s a valid goal, but many, if not most, of these companies are incentivized to maximize profits not share profits. Hence the rise of agents and other supplemental business roles athletes are looking to outsource.
I hope puritanical pearls don't discourage people from seeing the foundation of the platform. It works. Fans want to support their favorite athletes/personalities.
Being the first to take the sponsorship likely gets more attention than any other sponsorship could, and likely pays (at least) comparable to what any other company would, too. Seems win win.
OnlyFans, Patreon, Youtube Superchats...it's all the same. Personality > Fan...no middle man.
I like that OnlyFans is intentionally working to normalize the platform to all genres of content since it provides one more avenue for underfunded people to succeed. I want the people I'm a fan of to have as many opportunities as they can get.
In the future, I would love to hear more of your thoughts on “Focusing on her decision misses the broader point that trail running, and women’s sports more broadly, remains underfunded.” The gap between women’s and men’s sports is well documented, but I’m curious about your opinion on trail running being underfunded.
I'd be interested to see the reaction of the trail community at large. I was reading today that in the mountain biking world, some men got banned from UCI events for being sponsored by OnlyFans but when women got sponsored, they didn't get banned. I wonder if races with broadcasts (eg. Western States, UTMB etc.) will force her to cover the OF branding.
Here is an article on the mountain bike situation https://www.pinkbike.com/news/rachel-pageau-is-onlyfans-latest-sponsored-mountain-biker.html
BTW I should've added, I appreciate your analysis. I know this is the direction the sport is moving toward, and I know pro-level athletes need to make a living to reach their potential. I just find certain aspects of it sad, while many others likely find it exciting.
You are free to have your own opinion on Sabrina's decision, but maybe try to put yourself in her shoes before being so judgemental.
Of course, we all would want to go the Courtney way or the Kilian way, but not everyone is Courtney and Kilian. Some people have amazing opportunities, while others might need to make do with the limited options they have. Sitting on your high horse and looking down on people who make different decisions to you doesn't help anyone, and in my opinion, it doesn't make you look good.
Isn’t this a place to share honest opinions? I appreciate what you say about empathy. But I can comment on how I feel about the sport’s culture.
Ultimately, I deleted my comment because it is bashing, and I don’t want to deal with monitoring a controversial thread, but I’m glad I communicated to Matt my honest thoughts.