What is an athlete ambassador programme?

An athlete ambassador programme is an ambassador programme in which athletes, not creators or well-known faces, carry a brand over a longer period. The best-known example is the On Ambassador Program; Athletic Brewing and Gymshark work the same way. The idea: whoever uses the product in the sport it was made for is more credible than whoever talks about it.

Most of those programmes aim at two groups: pros and semi-pros with a track record, or creators with a large sports audience. Both are scarce, both cost money per month, and both are far removed from the people who end up buying the product. In the United States there's a third group, student athletes under NIL rules; in Belgium that doesn't exist.

Sunday Squad Ambassadors is an athlete ambassador programme for the group the industry skips: amateurs. Runners, cyclists, triathletes and padel players who train four times a week, belong to a club and are on Strava, with 500 to 10,000 followers who know them. No track record needed, but a collab as the first round. The difference in credibility is the difference between a poster and a clubmate. Do you have to be a pro to take part?, and how creator marketing works differently for sports brands.