Sports
Branding, marketing a complicated issue for out athletes
Changing demographics among millennials bode well for endorsements, sponsorships
Just 16 years old, Johnny Weir was already one of the worldās top international figure skaters. The sport was a lucrative business and Weirās talent amassed attention from agencies worldwide.
āThe first agency that approached me said, āWe really want you, but you canāt be gay if we represent you,'” Weir says. “I hadnāt even come out to my mother.ā
Sports marketing is a $70-plus billion industry and one in which gay athletes are still finding their footing with balancing their personal brand and their sexuality. But it wasnāt long ago that being out wasnāt widely accepted by the sports community or its stakeholders.
āWhen we won the World Cup in 1999, the networks were very curious about where I was running to celebrate,ā says recent National Soccer Hall of Fame inductee Briana Scurry. āThe cameras followed me. But when they realized it was to my girlfriend, they cut away.ā
Presentation and representation of an athlete dictates the career. In most cases the majority of an athleteās lifetime earnings and social impacts come by way of sponsorships and marketing opportunities so branding is the most important game many athletes will ever play. But itās not simple. And for gay athletes, finding an identity that appeals to teammates, fans and sponsors alike is an even more complex facet of the business.
Though agencies and corporations werenāt always open to partnering with gay athletes, augmented acceptance has alleviated constraints on their opportunities within the industry. āDemographics have changed,ā says Hudson Taylor, founder of Athlete Ally. āYounger generations are very accepting. Sponsors and agencies have seen both internal backing and increased support from consumers.ā
Now, 18 years since Briana Scurry and Johnny Weir were penalized for their sexual orientation, itās one of the key aspects considered when developing an athleteās personal brand.
Dan Levy, a senior vice president with sports marketing firm Wasserman suggests, āPeople get excited when athletes come out, so players feel pressure to present their orientation publicly. Itās a piece of the puzzle; itās a variable you have to take into consideration when trying to create opportunities.ā
But thereās still no clear-cut approach to branding for the gay athlete. As restraints faded with mounting cultural approval, new challenges emerged. No longer fixated on the industryās consent, gay athletes must consider the degree to which they represent and champion their sexual orientation through their branding.
āAbby [Wambach] felt really strongly that true progress was not having to come out and talk about it publicly,ā says Levy.
Wambach, whose first public confirmation of her sexual orientation was her 2013 marriage, told the Associated Press, āI never felt like I was in a closet. Iāve never been asked a question about my relationship ā rightfully so, because it shouldnāt matter.ā
Laina Cohn, partner at Cohn Torgan Management and representative for Johnny Weir suggests that not every athlete is equipped to lead the charge. āJohnny wasnāt an activist, he was an athlete. His whole world was about getting on the ice and winning. He never stepped onto the ice because he was gay.ā
Some athletes view their branding as a responsibility. Joanna Lohman, one of the National Womenās Soccer Leagueās most outspoken advocates, embraces the position. āI am admired for being out and proud. I realize how special it is to be viewed that way ā itās why I take advocating so seriously. Itās important for me to use the platform and brand that I have as a professional athlete to elevate the community.ā
Similarly, Megan Rapinoe utilized her visibility and personal brand to represent the LGBT community after inking a healthy deal with Nike. āMegan was the first athlete I really dug in with on a coming out,ā Levy says. āShe felt really strongly after the World Cup that she wanted people to see that there are a lot of gay athletes out there.ā Rapinoe in 2014 served as guest editor of the Washington Bladeās Sports Issue.
But itās a different world for men, a view shared by many.
āThereās a lot of social pressure on the male side,ā Lohman submits. āItās not a very supportive environment. There are labels and stigmas associated with being a gay man in sports, so you just donāt see that represented very often. On the womenās side itās much more accepted, if not assumed.ā
Scurry says that hesitation on the part of male athletes stems from existing in a different culture. āFor female athletes now, it doesnāt seem to hinder them. But with male athletes, itās different. There are a lot of male athletes that have chosen not to come out until after their career was over.ā
Biases against gay males have been integrated into the actual structure of sports perpetuating stereotypes and suppressing awareness. āSport is a gendered space, an institution that teaches masculinity and femininity and it does so in a very binary way,ā Taylor says. āThat masculinity is often wrongly reinforced with homophobic language.ā
But representatives like Cohn are optimistic. āI hope things change. I hope that by having stories told, by sharing experiences through television and social media the culture will eventually be different.ā
Levy recognizes the shift in the acceptability of promoting gay athletes. āIt mirrors our culture and what has changed. The progress weāve made as a society is showing up in the world of sports. Maybe itās at a different pace, but progress has been made.ā
Briana Scurry sees a new landscape for the gay athleteās public persona.
āThereās a huge difference in athlete presentation now,ā she says. āOne of the most memorable moments of the 2015 World Cup was Abby running to her partner after the final match. Nobody looked away. Eighteen years since the camera swung away from me, it stayed right on them. Itās a clear differentiator between how gay athletes could present their brands and themselves then and now.ā
For Weir, presenting himself authentically was empowering.
āI couldāve signed with that first agency at 16 years old and completely whitewashed myself. But I would have been boring. I would have never had the career Iāve had. I stuck to my guns and we created this brand and my agency, they support me as a human being. …Ā Being the absolute truest brand of myself has been the greatest career asset Iāve had.ā
Caitlyn Jenner flew from Malibu to New York this week to join her fellow Republicans in their nationwide quest to keep transgender girls and women from competing in sports with other women.
āLetās stop it now while we can,ā said the Olympic gold medalist, at a news conference carried live by Fox News Channel.
Republican Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman organized the event so that Jenner could speak in support of his February executive order banning trans athletes at more than 100 county-owned facilities.
āTrans women are competing against women, taking valuable opportunities for the long-protected class under Title IX and causing physical harm,ā said Jenner without providing supportive evidence of her claim. Jenner said the ban would defeat āthe woke agenda.ā
Her comments drew praise from former NCAA swimmer and paid shill Riley Gaines, who represents the Independent Womenās Forum and has also worked with the failed presidential campaign of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida on his anti-trans athlete platform.
We stand with Executive Blakeman as he faces shameful retaliation from @TishJames for merely protecting sports on the basis of sex
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) March 18, 2024
Thanks to you both, @Caitlyn_Jenner @NassauExec !!šš¼ https://t.co/vAsWfayI7l
āIf the left wants to fight this battle on this hill, itās a losing battle,ā said Jenner. āWe will win the battle.ā She claimed she spoke on behalf of women and girls, contradicting her past statements in support of trans girls competing according to their gender identity and despite the fact she herself still competes in womenās sports.
Shortly after the ban was announced last month, New York State Attorney General Letitia James and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, both Democrats, denounced it and accused Blakeman of ābullying trans kids.ā
James called the order ātransphobic and deeply dangerous,ā and argued that it violates the stateās anti-discrimination laws. The state attorney general challenged it in court March 1 with a ācease and desist letter,ā demanding that Blakeman rescind the order, saying it subjects womenās and girlsā sports teams to āinvasive questioning.ā
As the Los Angeles Blade reported, Blakeman’s legal team countered with its own lawsuit on March 5, claiming her cease and desist letter violates the 14th Amendmentās equal protection clause.
āNot only was the executive order legal, but we had an obligation to defend it,ā Blakeman said Monday.
The order has also been challenged by the New York Civil Liberties Union, which filed suit last week on behalf of a womenās roller derby league based in Nassau County that welcomes trans women and would be barred from using the countyās facilities by Blakemanās executive order.
Just days before the Long Island news conference, Jenner joined Olympian Sharron Davies, who also campaigns against trans inclusion in sports, for an conversation with a British newspaper, the Telegraph, which has been outspoken against trans inclusion.Ā
They recalled that in their day, tests to determine sex were mandatory in order to compete, and Jenner said she has been āpushingā for sex tests to return to sports, decades after sports organizations around the world abandoned the practice because they were unreliable. āIf they continue down this road, it will be pretty much the end of womenās sport as we know it.ā
āI can still hit a golf ball 280 yards,ā Jenner continued, not mentioning she plays from the ladiesā tee. She did however opine about not being āa real woman,ā acknowledging that many trans women disagree with her view.
āThey keep saying, āOh, Iām a real woman, Iām a real woman,ā and Iām going, āNo, youāre not,āā said Jenner. āI will use your preferred pronouns, I will treat you as a female, you can run and dress and do whatever you want, I have nothing against that, itās fine, but biologically youāre still male.ā
She added: āāLet me explain ā I am biologically male, OK? Iām XY. Thereās nothing I can do to change that. If you believe in gender dysphoria, and I think most people do realize itās not a disease, itās a mental condition, just like some people are left-handed and some people are right-handed, itās kind of the way youāre born and Iāve dealt with it my entire life.ā
āI consider myself a trans person, I am still genetically male, I changed all of my ID right down to my birth certificate so technically yes, I am female, but on the other hand I know Iām not.ā
Related:
Sports
Former UMD basketball player Abby Meyers discusses lesbians in sports, March Madness
Potomac native signed with the London Lions last August
Star basketball player Abby Meyers signed with the London Lions last August, but she called Maryland home before calling the shots in London.
Meyers, a lesbian shooting guard, grew up in Potomac and graduated from Walt Whitman High School in 2017. She played for Princeton in her undergraduate years and played for the University of Maryland during graduate school.
She began playing basketball in elementary school, and she was already showing an abundance of potential by the time she was in high school.
In her freshman year of high school, the schoolās basketball coach sat down with Meyers and her family and showed them a list of universities with Division I basketball teams. Meyers circled the names of the schools that she was interested in attending. From there, the doors leading to a collegiate basketball career began to open. She began working towards her dream and ended up playing for Princeton.
āIt was kind of like a mutual understanding between the two of us, me and basketball,ā Meyers told the Washington Blade. āI took more individual lessons, and I just realized that the potential was sky high.ā
She came back to her home state to attend the University of Maryland not only for its business program but also for its celebrated basketball team.
āI grew up watching Alyssa Thomas, Shatori Walker-Kimbrough and so many other legends that passed through that program,ā Meyers said. āSo for me, I knew that basketball-wise, it was the best decision I could make. ā¦ They definitely had all of the qualities to make me the best player I could be.ā
Before shipping off to London, Meyers briefly played in the WNBA for the Washington Mystics in the summer of 2023. In fact, the aforementioned UMD alum Shatori Walker-Kimbrough was one of her teammates.
She described her time with the WNBA and in London so far as a ālearning experience.ā
āI got to relearn what it meant to be a rookie again,ā Meyers said. āAll of a sudden you enter a new team, a new level and you’re at the bottom, and you just have to let your actions speak louder than your words.ā
Meyers publicly came out around 2019, and since then she has been a role model for many other lesbian women in sports.
āBy coming out I’m actually being my authentic self, but I was scared that people were going to judge me and look at me differently when in fact, I was met with open arms, love, and appreciation,ā Meyers said.
Meyers believes the journey one takes to coming out is an individual process that looks different for everyone.
āAt the end of the day, it’s your own race; run it at your own pace,ā Meyers said. āNever be apologetic for who you are. When you have to start compromising yourself and your values for other people like though thatās not the community you want to be a part of.ā
She has not experienced much anti-LGBTQ stigma since coming out, but that does not mean that it does not exist in other sports communities. However, in this modern social climate, Meyers pointed out, people are much more accepting of gay women in sports.
Nina Hazra, a University of Maryland medical student, grew up playing basketball with Meyers. The two were on the same team in middle school, but they went to different high schools and would often play against each other.
Hazra did not play much past high school, but she remained close friends with her former teammate and rival to this day. She went to most of the home games during Meyersā stint at UMD.
Though Hazra does not identify with the LGBTQ community, she noticed a tension in the sports world that affects all women, regardless of sexuality. However, with todayās shifting climate, it has become easier for female athletes to express their identities
āWomen who express strong emotions in sports are often treated differently than men who do the exact same thing,ā Hazra said in an interview. āI feel like as we’ve gotten older, there’s been a lot more celebration of womanhood in whatever form in sports, and I think that’s one of the places where you can then kind of go outside those societal norms.ā
But Hazra still noticed the impact Meyers had on younger generations in sports who may be struggling with their identities.
āIt doesn’t matter your sexuality, your gender identity, all that stuff. That doesn’t matter when you’re playing a sport,ā Hazra said. āA lot of us didn’t have role models in those years growing up and just to get to see her being that for so many girls is so amazing.ā
Elisa Pinzan, also a former Terrapin, is good friends with Meyers.
Originally from Italy, Pinzan played for the University of South Florida for four years before entering the transfer portal and landing at UMD. She now plays for Keflavik IF in Iceland.
Pinzan and Meyers formed a strong bond while playing for the Terrapins together.
āShe was the first person I got close to; she is very open, smiley and friendly, and I felt comfortable around her from the first day,ā Pinzan described. āI am glad to have met someone like Abby, with such a kind soul.ā
Pinzan thought that fans should keep their eyes peeled for the Terrapins this upcoming March Madness season.
āThey are a very young team with energy, enthusiasm and grit on the floor, and I think they are a lot better than the record they have,ā Pinzan wrote about the Terrapins in an interview. āDespite being young though, they are learning a lot every game and I am sure they will be able to transfer these lessons for the best time of the year coming up.ā
Meyers agreed that there is a lot to look forward to this March Madness. She said that with Coach Brenda Freseās game plans and strong assistant staff, the Terrapins have a strong chance of advancing throughout the competition.
According to Meyers, March Madness will be different for womenās basketball this year, pointing out that itās more popular right now than menās games, as womenās basketball is selling out arenas.
āI only think it’s gonna get better and it’s going to grow even more,ā Meyers said. āJust the marketing, the social media, the overall awareness of the women’s game. Fans are growing by the number.ā
Meyers believes that female basketball players have to rely more on their skill than their athleticism, which she believes makes womenās games just as ā if not more ā exciting than menās games. She said that over the past few years, there has been a strong shift in womenās viewership that has shrunk the gap between menās and womenās basketball, including from a technical standpoint, given that men and women play with the same level of equipment.
Regardless of where UMD ends up this March Madness, Meyers will be cheering the Terrapins on from across the pond ā especially the women.
Sports
Banned trans golfer Hailey Davidson: āHate and bigotry will never win’
NXXT mandates players must be ābiological female at birthā
Transgender pro golfer Hailey Davidson is pushing back against a policy change announced Friday by the Florida-based mini-tour, NXXT. From now on, competitors must be āa biological female at birthā in order to participate.
āEffective immediately, I have been removed (banned) from the next three NXXT tournaments that I had already signed up for and been approved to play,ā said Davidson in a post on Instagram. āThey changed their policy mid season, after signing me up already and being 2nd in the Player of the Year race.āĀ
The three-time winner from Scotland has played nine times on the tour this season.
According to a statement by the tourās CEO, Stuart McKinnon, the change underscores the organizationās commitment to āmaintaining the integrity of womenās professional golf and ensuring fair competition.ā NXXT Golf issued that statement on International Womenās Day.
āAs we navigate through the evolving landscape of sports, it is crucial to uphold the competitive integrity that is the cornerstone of womenās sports,ā said McKinnon in the statement. āOur revised policy is a reflection of our unwavering commitment to celebrating and protecting the achievements and opportunities of female athletes. Protected categories are a fundamental aspect of sports at all levels and it is essential for our Tour to uphold these categories for biological females, ensuring a level playing field.ā
Davidson said the policy change in her social media post was discrimination, adding that the decision denigrates cisgender female athletes as well as trans athletes.
āYou know what really bugs me is that people think I win just by showing up,ā she wrote. āThis is such a slap in the face to ALL female athletes being told that any male can transition and beat them regardless of the life of hard work those women put in.
āYou think youāre attacking me, but youāre actually attacking and putting down ALL other female athletes.ā
She concluded with a vow: āYou can scream at me, threaten me, throw insults at me, and even ban me BUT I will ALWAYS get back up and keep fighting to the very end. Hate and bigotry will never win.ā
Davidson also posted a message for the women she had planned to compete against: āI hope those NXXT players who are now in the top five are still able to earn those Epson Tour exemptions they were promised and continue to be reminded of in the previous couple of tournaments.ā
-
Florida3 days ago
Professor at Baptist university in Virginia found dead in Florida gay saunaĀ
-
Maryland1 day ago
Maryland’s Joe Vogel would make history if elected to Congress
-
Opinions10 hours ago
Attacking Jews is latest Trump outrage
-
California4 days ago
First lady highlights attacks on LGBTQ rights at HRCās Los Angeles dinner