Athlete Creators vs Traditional Influencers: the Difference That Matters

The influencer boom is losing its shine

Influencer marketing transformed how brands reached people. For more than a decade, it promised proximity and trust at scale. A way for products to travel through personalities instead of paid media.

But the model is showing its age.

Audiences are more sceptical, algorithms less forgiving, and the line between endorsement and entertainment increasingly blurred. The State of Influencer Marketing Report shows the average Instagram engagement rate in 2024 fell to 1.59% (down from 1.85% in 2023), while broader industry data highlights how brands increasingly rely on smaller creators for performance.

And "authenticity," once the industry's favourite word, has lost much of its meaning. A 2023 consumer survey by Matter Communications found that while 69% of people say authenticity drives engagement, only 35% believe most influencers are genuine.

For many brands, especially smaller ones, the challenge isn't whether to keep using influencers. It's whether the traditional model still works at all. That's why athlete influencer marketing is emerging as a more credible alternative.

Why athletes are the next evolution of influence

Athletes represent a quieter, more credible kind of creator. Their influence is earned long before any partnership, through discipline, performance, and public proof of commitment.

Where traditional influencers build audiences around aspiration, athletes build communities around participation. They don't just promote a lifestyle; they live the values audiences care about: effort, consistency, resilience, belonging.

This is the fundamental distinction at the heart of athlete creators vs influencers: athletes embody what they promote.

Credibility is built in. Audiences believe athletes because their reputations are earned in plain sight. That credibility transfers directly to the brands they choose to work with.

Communities run deeper. Fans don't just watch athletes; they identify with them. Their shared values and routines turn followers into participants—a dynamic influencers rarely achieve.

Performance mindset. Athletes think in data and discipline. They measure, adjust, and improve. The same traits that make athlete influencer marketing more accountable than traditional creator campaigns.

The creator economy has matured

The first wave of influencer marketing was built on novelty, brands paid for access to audiences they couldn't reach themselves. Today, that advantage has levelled out.

Social algorithms now reward authentic engagement, not sheer scale. Brands no longer win by renting reach from influencers; they win by partnering with creators who can tell stories their audiences believe.

That shift plays directly into the hands of athletes. Their audiences are smaller, but their connection runs deeper. And because their online presence grows out of their offline performance, their influence feels earned, not engineered.

The trust gap: what audiences now expect

Authenticity is easy to claim and hard to fake. Over 60% of consumers say it's the most important factor in whether they engage with a brand, yet traditional influencer marketing keeps struggling to deliver it.

Creators juggling multiple brand deals lose credibility. Sponsored content often feels transactional, not genuine. And campaigns designed for quick reach rarely convert because they're built on borrowed trust.

Athletes operate differently. Their influence is grounded in lived experience, not aesthetics… a powerful foundation for authentic marketing with athletes.

• A local runner promoting hydration gels.
• A swimmer partnering with a skincare brand built for daily chlorine exposure.
• A rugby player showcasing recovery tools that actually fit their training routine.

These aren't ads, they're extensions of real lives. And that's exactly why audiences engage.

The performance payoff

Marketers who've worked with athletes often describe a different kind of partnership. Less about vanity metrics, more about genuine impact.

Athlete creators consistently engage smaller but stronger audiences. Micro-athletes (1k-20k followers) deliver engagement rates roughly 2–3× higher than lifestyle influencers with 100 k+, according to multiple industry studies.

They also drive measurable action. Their followers aren't passive scrollers, they're participants. When athletes endorse something, their communities try it. Brands are already reporting stronger conversion and purchase intent from athlete-led campaigns because those recommendations feel earned, not engineered.

And they create content that lasts. Training, routines, and behind-the-scenes life naturally produce a steady stream of authentic stories that perform over time. Athlete partnerships build long-term trust and sustained content value, the hallmark of authentic marketing with athletes.

For brands with smaller budgets (especially in CPG) this efficiency matters. It's not about buying reach; it's about buying relevance.

When to use athletes vs traditional influencers

There's still a place for traditional influencers, particularly for broad awareness or lifestyle positioning. But the decision should depend on the goal of the campaign:

Goal	Best fit	Why
Brand awareness	Traditional influencers (macro/lifestyle)	Reach large audiences quickly and cheaply.
Community engagement	Athlete creators (micro/niche)	Build trust through shared values and authenticity.
Conversion / Sales	Athlete creators	Drive credible recommendations and bottom-funnel action.
Content creation / Paid ads	Athlete creators	Produce authentic, high-performing UGC for whitelisting and retargeting.

Think of it less as either/or, and more as what stage of the funnel you're optimising for. Nielsen's sports marketing research shows athlete influencer marketing campaigns often outperform traditional creator content at mid- and lower-funnel conversion stages. Athletes win where credibility drives action.

The small-brand advantage

For small and medium-sized brands, the athlete opportunity is even stronger. Big corporations chase celebrity partnerships and mass exposure. Smaller brands can afford to be personal, partnering with athletes who genuinely love their product and are embedded in local or niche communities.

That's where authenticity scales.

Take a regional energy drink brand that partners with local triathletes. Instead of spending five figures on a macro-influencer, they identify five micro-athletes in different cities, each with loyal local followers.

Each athlete produces authentic content, training routines, product use, and competition days generating dozens of organic touchpoints. When repurposed as ads, the creative outperforms brand-produced content by 2-3x.

That's the advantage small brands have: proximity. They can reach real communities through people who are already part of them.

Brands pairing with smaller, high-fit athletes see stronger engagement and faster creative turnaround. They can test, learn, and course-correct in real time, something large brands rarely manage.

Why this shift matters now

The timing isn't accidental. Three big shifts are driving the rise of athlete creators vs influencers:

Economic reality: Marketing budgets have tightened. Gartner's 2024 CMO Spend Survey shows average marketing budgets fell to 7.7% of company revenue (from 9.1% in 2023), a 15% drop year over year.

Cultural movement: Meanwhile, consumer spend and attention keep shifting toward wellness and performance. McKinsey pegs the global consumer wellness market at ~$1.8T and growing.

Technology shift: MarketingDive found that the rise of AI and virtual influencers is complicating perceptions of "authenticity," with mixed consumer attitudes toward synthetic creators and what that means for trust.

For CPG brands especially, this means athlete influencer marketing can do what traditional influencer work no longer can: convert trust into sales.

What it means for you

Traditional influencers built the first era of social marketing. Athlete creators are defining the next one.

They bring what today's marketing landscape lacks most: credibility that can't be staged and communities that can't be bought.

Working with athletes isn't about adding a sports angle. It's about partnering with people whose influence is already proven. People whose actions, values, and audiences align naturally with what a brand stands for.

Influence itself is shifting. The brands that adapt fastest won't be the ones chasing the newest platforms, they'll be the ones anchoring their marketing in credibility and connection.

Because in an age where "authenticity" has become a cliché, credibility is the new goal—and authentic marketing with athletes is how brands reclaim it.

Want to explore how athlete creators could fit your brand? Talk to Contested, the platform where brands and athletes connect to build authentic partnerships that actually perform.