The convergence of beauty and sports is having a moment.

While sports and fashion have long intersected — from five-time NBA champion Dennis Rodman’s enigmatic, gender-bending style through the ‘90s, to NBA players’ widely watched tunnel outfits — the synergy between athletes and sweetness could also be in its relative infancy, but consumers are beginning to concentrate.

Granted, sports fans aren’t yet creating Instagram accounts documenting the sweetness moves of their favorite athletes as they’ve begun to do with their fashion selections (see @leaguefits, @nbafashionfits), but they’re watching the space, and corporations like Bubble, Sephora, Kinlò and others are harnessing athletes as a strategy to reach these consumers — and seeing promising breakthroughs because of this.

Take oral care brand Moon, for instance. Launched by Shaun Neff in 2019, Moon has two foremost ambassadors: former Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., who signed on in December 2021, and Kendall Jenner, who backs Moon and has fronted the brand since its debut.

“Pre-Odell, [our consumer] was way more female than male, and it’s becoming more balanced every single day; especially with Odell being known for his rad aesthetic, his dyed hair — bringing him onboard has brought in that top school, college, athletic male consumer to the brand,” said Neff of Moon, which sells at Ulta Beauty.

In keeping with data from Tribe Dynamics, between November 2021 and January 2023, Jenner generated $7 million in earned media value — which assesses social media content and assigns it a monetary value based on engagement — across 69 posts, while Beckham Jr. generated a commensurate $936,700 EMV across 33 posts through the same period. (For reference, Jenner counts 276 million Instagram followers, while Beckham Jr. has 16.9 million).

Sephora has also entered the athlete arena: last 12 months, the retailer inaugurated Olympic gold medalist sprinter, Kendall Ellis, to its yearlong Sephora Squad ambassadorship program, which has historically consisted of beauty influencers with various following sizes, but is broadening its reach.

“The core of Sephora’s followers are those that are just a little more beauty-invested, and so finding these partnerships in areas like sports and gaming, where these convergences are happening, creates a chance for us to achieve these more casual beauty shoppers, who’ve perhaps heard of Sephora but don’t yet consider us as their go-to destination for his or her beauty needs,” said Brent Mitchell, Sephora’s vp of promoting, social and influencer.

As skilled athletes are finding their footing in the sweetness industry, so, too, are collegiate athletes, who often have highly engaged followings and thus offer ripe ground for ambassadorships. With the National Collegiate Athletic Association increasing its leniency in allowing college athletes to cash in on using their name, image and likeness of late, brands are increasingly flocking to the group.

One such brand is Naomi Osaka’s sun care-focused Kinlò, which recruited five college athletes who play different sports for its #GlowOutside Instagram campaign in August with the aim of highlighting the brand’s mission of promoting sunscreen use amongst those with melanated skin.

“Partnering with student athletes allows us to be very targeted in reaching the communities it’s essential for us to attach with; these athletes are very influential of their communities — which include their friends, their schools and their social media followings,” said Kinlò president Mia Mecham.

In an email to Beauty Inc, Osaka added that because one among her goals with Kinlò is to empower a rising generation of athletes, it was a no brainer that the product needs to be fronted by people who find themselves going to sweat and endure extreme conditions during use, quite than by traditional celebrity or famous-for-being-famous ambassadors.

Gen Z-focused skincare brand Bubble has an identical approach. Along with its roster of actor ambassadors (like Madison Pettis and Samantha Logan), the brand partnered with Olympic gymnast Laurie Hernandez upon its launch, and has since inked deals with Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson, Denver Broncos running back Melvin Gordon third and Texas State track star Sam Hurley.

“We love the concept of getting Bubble to represent everyone, and numerous people can’t relate to numerous celebrity faces,” said Shai Eisenman, founder and chief executive officer.

Eisenman reports that 40 percent of Bubble’s consumer base is male — a not-so-common stat for a skincare brand. This unique reach has been partly enabled by the brand’s athlete partnerships, which, beyond driving brand awareness, are fueling a bigger demystification of self-care, specifically amongst cis-gendered, male consumers, who previously haven’t been spoken to by the movement.

“Not everyone understands how essential it’s to cleanse your skin within the morning or use SPF. By bringing in Justin’s voice, who isn’t necessarily the person some would expect to be an avid skincare user, we’re exposing the brand to a very different community,” Eisenman said.

Tribe reports that Jefferson has generated $39,800 EMV for Bubble across 4 Instagram posts since January 2021 (to notice, though, Jefferson’s partnership with the brand includes online and print ads, unlike with Bubble’s other athlete partnerships, that are strictly user-generated content-focused).

Athlete partnerships have strategic legs beyond the realm of social media or digital campaigns, too. Actually, when Beckham Jr. makes his highly anticipated announcement regarding which team he’ll sign to upon his return to the NFL next 12 months following an injury-related break, Moon plans to host an in-person activation in his recent team’s city.

“With all different talent, we care about in-person activations — it’s essential to indicate up, be relatable, be in-person and shake hands,” said Neff.