Baseball, soccer, golf produce fewer marketable stars: report

After an exciting World Series, sports fans are hyped about baseball, and with a World Cup coming up this summer, soccer is also a hot topic.

But neither holds a candle to basketball or football when it comes to player stardom, according to a new report from Kantar.

Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry topped the company’s Sports Monitor Athlete Reputation Tracker, a report meant to help “gauge athlete popularity and marketability” by ranking them based on familiarity, likability, and negative perceptions. Curry tied the Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark for No. 3 on the list last year and made the top five in 2023. Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes came in second this year and last year after topping the 2023 list.

Including Curry and Mahomes, 18 of the top 25 athletes on the tracker play football or basketball, while just three MLB players and two soccer players made Kantar’s list.

Room for improvement: The highest-ranking baseball player was New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge, who came in at No. 13 with a score of 54. To arrive at the scores, the Kantar team polled more than 2,600 sports fans in August and September, then rewarded athletes for high familiarity and strong positive perceptions and penalized them for negative perceptions.

• Shohei Ohtani, a designated hitter and pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers whose stand-out performances were on display during the World Series, and Inter Miami CF and Argentina national team forward Leo Messi tied for No. 16, each scoring 51.
• Another soccer superstar, Cristiano Ronaldo of the Saudi Pro League and the Portugal national team, came in at No. 19 with a score of 49.
• Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout followed, tying Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry at No. 20.
• Despite the sport’s pop culture surge this year, only one golfer, Rory McIlroy, made the top 25.

“As competition increases, these leagues are going to need to create stars,” Ryan McConnell, EVP at Kantar, told Marketing Brew. “You’ve got to give people a reason to tune in. I think the leagues are understanding this a lot more than they used to.”

McConnell said he’s optimistic more soccer players will see their fame rise as the World Cup gets closer and “takes over the culture.” For marketers already looking to activate soccer sponsorships, he suggested they could “borrow equity from higher-profile celebrities” in their campaigns for the time being.

Off the podium: Gymnast Simone Biles was the only athlete from outside football and basketball to make the top 10 this year, falling to No. 3 after ranking first last year, when Kantar ran the survey just before the Paris Olympics. In general, “summer Olympians experienced a lowered profile as media coverage subsided” this year, according to Kantar. Swimmer Katie Ledecky and gymnast Suni Lee, for instance, both dropped off the top 25 in this year’s report.

Girl, so confusing: There are fewer women in the top 25 this year compared to last, and Biles and Clark, who came in fourth with a score of 75, were the only two to make the list. WNBA Rookie of the Year Paige Bueckers, however, made a notable climb, McConnell said, rising from No. 77 last year to No. 54 this year.

“The gap between Caitlin Clark and the next most likeable or popular women’s athlete is still very, very wide, but it does show promise that maybe Bueckers will be able to jump a little bit higher next year,” he said.

Divide and conquer: There’s also a group of athletes who have regularly proved divisive on the tracker, and boxer and YouTuber Jake Paul “leads that list,” according to Kantar. About three-quarters (71%) of sports fans said they’re familiar with him, and 30% expressed negative perceptions, leaving him with a score of eight. He’s been last in the rankings for three years straight.

Brittney Griner, a three-time Olympic gold medalist and WNBA champ, has clocked relatively high negative perceptions for the past couple of years. Fellow WNBA star Angel Reese joined her on the list of athletes with more than 20% negative perceptions, “reflecting how gender, race, and identity can shape reactions to outspoken female and LGBTQ+ athletes,” according to the report.

Marketers shouldn’t necessarily shy away from polarizing athletes, McConnell said.

“You obviously don’t want to associate too much with negativity, although…some brands might want to embrace that if it really aligns with their brand,” he said. “You will get attention, and attention is the coin of the realm right now. Breaking through is harder than ever.”