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Ryan Simonovich's avatar

Great article. Deeply resonates with me as I create my own media brand over at ryanmtb.substack.com

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Jan Virt's avatar

This is such an inspiring article, Patrick, it really got me thinking. I’m a photographer primarily focused on climbing, now aiming to improve my video skills. I often reach out to athletes to ask about their next project. Partly because I’m genuinely stoked to see someone send a 9a+ route, but also because I want to document it, hoping a sponsor will buy the content.

However, this kind of speculative work is incredibly unreliable in terms of ROI. The content might not align with a brand’s marketing strategy, social media calendar, or they simply don’t have the budget, no matter how small. More often than not, I can’t even cover travel costs from a shoot.

This leaves me questioning: where do I stand? Should athletes have budgets from brands specifically for content creators like me? Or should I rely on brands buying a carousel of ten images or a reel and continue working with athletes for free?

You mentioned Adam Ondra’s success. Having had the honor of working with him as well, I completely agree. But he has a highly capable team supporting him, something only very few top athletes can afford.

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