Advertising Week Briefing: Marketers are taking the athlete influencer opportunity seriously

The lines between influencers and athletes are overlapping — and marketers are taking notice.

Brands see sportspeople as a means of reaching engaged, focused fan communities — particularly amid rising interest in women’s sports, college sports and an expanding name, image and likeness (NIL) industry. The topic was a conversation point across at least eight panels on Tuesday at this year’s Advertising Week New York.

“Brands are starting to value women’s sports closer to what they should be,” said Nicole Jeter West, co-founder of creative agency Vanguard Maven Group on the panel “Owning the Game: Scoring Big in Women’s Sports.”

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