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.
Thanks Jan. I understand exactly where you're coming from. I've had very similar conversations with so many people in the industry, as we're trying to understand the economics of this future.
Agree that Adam Ondra is unique, and there are only a very few of him. Most people underestimate how big an operation that is - I've been that operation for athletes and it's a full media company when it's firing.
I do think that brands will need to be more intentional in allocating budget across a variety of content types - athletes, photographers, creators, hybrids that fit into multiple of those categories.
So many team managers are former athletes, and see it from that lens - "My job is to identify the best new climber, and support her in achieving a big goal." But now there's this whole ecosystem of athletes and creators that you have to identify and support. It's going to be a mind-shift that we will all have to figure out together.
Liked and Agreed with: “….but if even a fraction of a percent of the content output is really good, that’s still more good content than traditional media or brands can make.”
It will be interesting to look back on things today in this space in 10+ years and it will all make sense - maybe!
Great article. Deeply resonates with me as I create my own media brand over at ryanmtb.substack.com
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.
Thanks Jan. I understand exactly where you're coming from. I've had very similar conversations with so many people in the industry, as we're trying to understand the economics of this future.
Agree that Adam Ondra is unique, and there are only a very few of him. Most people underestimate how big an operation that is - I've been that operation for athletes and it's a full media company when it's firing.
I do think that brands will need to be more intentional in allocating budget across a variety of content types - athletes, photographers, creators, hybrids that fit into multiple of those categories.
So many team managers are former athletes, and see it from that lens - "My job is to identify the best new climber, and support her in achieving a big goal." But now there's this whole ecosystem of athletes and creators that you have to identify and support. It's going to be a mind-shift that we will all have to figure out together.
Liked and Agreed with: “….but if even a fraction of a percent of the content output is really good, that’s still more good content than traditional media or brands can make.”
It will be interesting to look back on things today in this space in 10+ years and it will all make sense - maybe!
Nicely done.