ContestedHow the Right Brands Find You
No cold DMs. No guesswork. Contested's matching engine analyzes six data signals to surface brand deals that actually fit your audience, content, and values.
You never have to pitch. Brands come to you — and every deal that reaches your dashboard has been scored, screened for common compliance flags, and fully structured.
6 Signals. One Match Score.
Every athlete is scored against every campaign using six weighted data signals. Here's exactly what the engine evaluates — and how each signal is weighted.
Audience Demographics
Age ranges, gender split, location density, and interest categories are cross-referenced against the brand's target customer profile.
Example
Brand targets 18–24 females interested in fitness → your audience is 72% female, 68% aged 18–24, top interest: health & wellness → 92% overlap score.
Engagement Quality
Real engagement rate, comment sentiment analysis, save-to-like ratio, and story reply rate — not just follower count.
Example
Your 8.3% engagement rate + positive comment sentiment = top 5% of matched athletes for this campaign.
Content Style
Visual tone, caption style, posting frequency, and content categories are analyzed against the brand's creative direction.
Example
Brand wants authentic lifestyle content → your feed is 70% lifestyle, 20% training, 10% humor → strong content fit.
Brand Alignment
Sport relevance, personal values, and existing brand affinities are checked for natural alignment.
Example
Protein brand targeting college basketball → you're D1 basketball, previously posted about nutrition → high alignment.
Growth Trajectory
Month-over-month follower growth, engagement trends, and viral content potential signal rising influence.
Example
Your followers grew 12% this month + your last 3 posts averaged 2× your baseline → growth multiplier applied.
Rate Fit
Your rates are compared to the campaign budget to ensure the deal is financially viable for both sides.
Example
Your Instagram Reel rate is $600 → campaign budget supports $500–$800 per athlete → rate fit confirmed.
How a Campaign Becomes Your Next Deal.
From the moment a brand submits a brief to the second a fully structured offer lands in your dashboard — every step is automated, transparent, and built to protect you.
Brand Submits Campaign Brief
The brand defines their goals, target audience, budget, deliverables, creative direction, timeline, and usage rights. This becomes the matching criteria.
Athlete Profiles Indexed
Every athlete on Contested has a live profile fed by connected social accounts. The engine pulls fresh data — not month-old snapshots.
Scoring Engine Runs
Every eligible athlete is scored against the brief using six weighted signals. The model produces a match score from 0–100 for each athlete.
Fair Distribution Applied
Before finalizing the shortlist, the engine applies equity rules. Budgets are distributed across tiers so smaller creators and underrepresented athletes get surfaced.
Ranked Shortlist Delivered
The brand receives a ranked shortlist of 10–25 athletes with match scores, audience breakdowns, content samples, and rate cards. They select their picks.
You Get a Complete Offer
If the brand selects you, a fully structured offer lands in your dashboard — deliverables, rates, rights, timeline, compliance, and escrow protection included.
Traditional Outreach vs.
AI-Powered Matching
See why data-driven matching outperforms DMs, agents, and marketplace browsing.
Old Way
Contested
Every Athlete Gets
a Real Shot.
Most platforms give all the deals to the biggest accounts. Our engine deliberately distributes budget across matching tiers — so talent and fit win over follower count.
%
Of deals go to non-top-tier creators
%
Of matched athletes are D2/D3
×
Higher accept rate vs. cold outreach
%
Campaign completion rate
Anti-Monopoly Distribution
Campaign budgets are split across follower tiers. A 50K-follower athlete and a 500K-follower athlete can both win deals from the same campaign.
Underrepresented Sport Boost
Athletes in women's sports, Paralympic sports, and non-revenue college sports receive a matching boost when their audience fit is strong.
Continuous Learning
Every campaign outcome — accept rates, content quality scores, brand satisfaction — feeds back into the model. Your match quality improves with every deal.
No Pay-to-Play
Athletes can't buy better placement. Match rank is determined purely by data fit. Premium accounts don't exist.
How to Rank Higher in Matches
You don't need more followers. Here's what actually moves the needle.
Complete your profile
Add your sport, location, content preferences, and rate card. Incomplete profiles can't be scored accurately.
Connect all your socials
Instagram, TikTok, YouTube — every connected platform gives the engine more data to work with.
Complete deals on time
A 100% completion rate signals reliability. Brands prioritize athletes with strong track records.
Post consistently
Regular posting keeps your engagement metrics fresh. Dormant accounts get lower engagement scores.
Your potential match score
Stop Searching.
Start Getting Found.
Create your profile, connect your socials, and let the matching engine do the work. Your first brand deal could be days away.