Are creators willing to collaborate for product only, without cash?

Yes: 93% of influencers are willing to work for product alone, on one condition — that they genuinely appreciate the brand. That subordinate clause, from a 2025 sector analysis by archive.com, is worth the whole figure.

It turns product-only into a selection mechanism rather than a cheap version of a paid deal. Someone who says yes to a package without a fee is saying something about their relationship with the brand. Someone who only says yes to an invoice drops out by themselves. That self-selection is usually worth more than the fee you saved.

The condition does put the burden on the offer. A product-only collab works when the package is something the athlete would buy anyway — in practice from around €75 to €100 — and when it sits inside their discipline. Below that line you're asking someone for an afternoon's work in exchange for a sample, and the question shifts from "will they?" to "why would they?".

So we combine the two: product for the squad, a fee for the Captains. Coordinating is a different order of work from making content, and you pay for that separately.