Coming out as gay used to be the kiss of death for sponsorship deals in sport. But as a record number of openly LGBTQ+ athletes prepare to participate in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, marketing analysts say the opposite is now true: authenticity sells.
This week, Canadian ice hockey player Luke Prokop followed in the footsteps of American football star Carl Nassib in becoming the first openly gay athletes still active in their respective sports – and potential sponsors are circling, experts said.
“These athletes are exhibiting degrees of courage and authenticity, which are always good traits for a brand,” said Paul Hardart, a marketing professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business.
Prokop’s announcement sparked an outpouring of online support from fans, fellow players and sports groups, while Nassib’s Las Vegas Raiders jersey became the top seller days after he came out, sports channel ESPN reported.
Where fans go, brands are sure to follow, Hardart said.
“It’s the future. If you talk to a 14-year-old, LGBTQ rights are sort of the baseline,” he said.
“All of these leagues are focused on the next generation and this positions them well for that,” he added.
Yet that was not the case in the past.
Olympic gold medal-winning diver Greg Louganis told the Thomson Reuters Foundation last year he still questioned whether he missed out on lucrative sponsorship deals and top television jobs because he was gay and HIV-positive.
While corporate sponsors have become broadly welcoming to gay, lesbian and bisexual athletes, for trans sports people the situation is more complicated.
Many brands lack the knowledge or education to accurately tell trans stories, said Mike Hernandez, the director of creative strategy at The Mixx, a New York-based marketing agency that focuses on communicating to LGBTQ+ audiences.
But that could soon change as understanding of trans issues increases, he added.
“Anyone can identify that it has been the cisgender ‘LGB’ sponsorships that have come first and I think the ‘T’ and the transgender individuals will fall next in line,” Hernandez said.
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