How the new deal platform works on athleteXhub
Good sponsorship does not always begin with the question: "Do we want to work together long-term?" Sometimes it begins with a specific competition, a campaign, a product launch or simply a good idea.
That's exactly why we now have the new deal platform on athleteXhub.
While our classic matching brings together athletes and brands that fundamentally fit well together, deals take it a step further. Here, the focus is not primarily on long-term partnership, but on a specific project.
An athlete is looking for support for their next big competition. A brand needs athletes for a product launch. Or both sides have an idea that should be implemented for a specific period and with clearly defined services.
The matching shows who could fit together. The deal platform creates a concrete occasion to actually make a collaboration happen.
From general match to specific project
Since the beginning of athleteXhub, we have been dealing with a central question: How do we manage to turn suitable athletes and companies into real cooperations?
Our sponsorship matching score helps to make fundamentally suitable connections visible. Various criteria play a role here, which show how well an athlete and a company fit together.
This is important, because a good partnership should be based on more than just a possibly large reach.
Nevertheless, it often needs an occasion afterwards to take the next step. This is where the deal platform comes in.
Instead of just saying "We could fit well together", one side can now say: "We have this specific project. Who wants to be part of it?"
Thus, both areas complement each other: The matching provides orientation and the deals bring concrete possibilities to the platform.
What is a deal on athleteXhub?
A deal is a specific cooperation opportunity that can be published by an athlete or a brand.
This can be, for example, participation in a special competition for which an athlete is still looking for a sponsor. Similarly, a brand can plan a campaign and specifically search for athletes who can test a new product, produce content or become part of an activation.
Unlike a general sponsorship request, a deal has a clear objective from the start.
What support is being sought? What services are expected? What does the compensation look like? When does the project take place? What requirements should potential partners meet?
This allows both parties to assess much more quickly whether an application or collaboration makes sense.
Deals from athletes: Turning a project into a sponsorship opportunity
Those who want to be an athlete Finding sponsors often think first of a classic partnership over several months or a complete season. This can be sensible, but it's by no means the only possibility for collaboration.
Perhaps a special competition is upcoming. A Backyard Ultra, a long distance, an extraordinary challenge or an expedition. Perhaps a content series is being created around the preparation for a sporting goal.
All of this can be a concrete starting point for sponsorship.
Let's take an athlete starting at the Last Soul Ultra as an example. Instead of generally searching for sponsors, they could publish a deal and precisely explain what they're planning, what support they need and what added value they can offer a partner.
This turns 'I'm looking for sponsors' into a much more tangible request: 'I'm looking for a partner for this specific project.'
Especially for athletes who haven't built larger sponsorship partnerships yet, this can make it easier to get started. A company doesn't have to decide on a long-term collaboration immediately, but can get to know an athlete within a clearly defined project first.
Deals from brands: Finding the right athletes for a project
The principle works in the same way in the other direction.
A brand is planning the launch of a new running shoe, for example, and is looking for athletes who can test the product over several weeks and produce authentic content from training and competition.
Instead of writing to individual athletes without a specific context, the company can create a deal from it.
This allows you to describe which athletes are being sought, what part of the cooperation is involved, what services are expected and how the collaboration will be remunerated.
Interested athletes can then apply specifically for these sponsorship deals.
This makes the search for companies more structured and at the same time opens the door for athletes who may not have had a particular brand on their radar yet.
Clear expectations on the deal platform before the first message is written
A large part of the communication around sponsoring often revolves around basic questions at the beginning.
What are you actually looking for? What do you expect from me? Is there a budget? How long should the cooperation last? What services are planned?
These questions are part of every professional collaboration, but they don't necessarily have to be clarified after several messages.
On the deal platform, central framework conditions can be defined when creating a deal, including the desired service, remuneration, requirements for the partner, ideas for the cooperation and the timeline.
This ensures more transparency on both sides.
An athlete can assess before applying whether the deal suits them, and a brand receives more targeted applications from athletes who have consciously dealt with the project.
This saves time and reduces inquiries where it becomes clear after just a few messages that the ideas are too far apart.
Why we developed the deal platform
Our goal with athleteXhub is not to simply place as many profiles next to each other as possible, but what comes out of it.
We want to support athletes and brands in finding suitable connections and creating real collaborations from them.
That's why it was clear to us at some point that matching alone can only be part of it.
A high matching score can show that a brand and an athlete fundamentally fit well together, but that doesn't automatically lead to a conversation.
A concrete deal changes exactly that.
Suddenly there is a reason, a project, a period of time, an idea that both sides can talk about.
At the same time, athletes can show their own initiative. They don't have to wait to be discovered or contacted by a company, but can make their own projects visible and actively search for suitable partners.
For us, this is an important part of making sponsoring more accessible and professional at the same time.
A long-term partnership can arise from a single deal
Not every good partnership has to start with a yearly contract.
On the contrary: a single project can be a pretty good opportunity to find out if the collaboration really works.
Does the communication work? Are agreements kept? Is good content created? Does the athlete actually identify with the brand? And does the company feel that the collaboration brings real added value?
Such things can only be judged to a limited extent on paper.
A deal can therefore also be a door opener.
Perhaps the collaboration starts with a competition, a campaign or three joint content pieces. If both sides then notice that it works, much more can come out of it.
Sponsoring is allowed to develop. Not every partnership has to be big from the start.
Now discover or publish your own deals on athleteXhub
If you are already registered on athleteXhub, you can discover the current deals directly on the platform or publish a deal yourself. And if athleteXhub is new to you, you can find an overview in our article "What is athleteXhub?" about why we founded athleteXhub and it might be exactly the right platform for you.
