I’m Not a Businessman, I’m a Business, Man: How Social Media Popularity Impacts Athletes’ Income

Abstract

The goal of this paper is to enumerate the financial value of online popularity for professional athletes. The most accurate results indicate that an increase in one social media follower can be attributed to a $0.244 increase in endorsement income and a $0.348 increase in non-endorsement income. After controlling for salary type, the analysis shows that social media popularity only remains statistically significant for contract-based sports and not prize money sports. This relationship holds because, for professional athletes with millions of followers, these online platforms serve as tangible evidence for fanbases, and thus target markets. Ultimately, the financial power of social media is likely to result in the continued emergence of athlete-entrepreneurs who use their sporting popularity to establish entrepreneurial ventures. A similar trend can be found in the evolution of the entertainment industry where influencer marketing has become the new norm. Furthermore, the policy implications of this research indicate that coordination between federal/state regulators and sports’ national governing bodies is essential going forward. Lastly, the confirmed value of online popularity suggests that sports teams and NCAA institutions will be forced to redesign their profit model in order to efficiently balance the value of athlete performance and athlete popularity. The study concludes with future research opportunities that lie within the interaction between athlete performance and popularity.