In a market saturated with content, creators and campaigns, capturing meaningful attention isn’t just difficult – it’s costing brands more. But what if the answer isn’t to spend more … but to align spend with the right audiences, at the right cultural moments, to drive brand relevance and long-term impact.
Our SportOnSocial International Federations 2025 Report reveals something that should interest every brand in the fitness and sporting goods space: the most effective sports at driving digital engagement aren’t always the biggest or best-funded.
They’re often the most culturally connected.
The untapped power of tier 2 sports
Fitness and sporting goods brands often gravitate towards major sports properties, assuming that bigger equals better. But our data tells a different story. While reach is vital, reach without engagement is wasted. Smart brands optimise for both.
Emerging sports like climbing, padel, or 3×3 basketball aren’t just growing fast — they’re cultivating tight-knit, passionate communities. These sports often outperform more established federations in digital engagement metrics, not because of their size, but because of the intensity of their following. Their fans are active participants, not passive spectators. They ask questions, share training insights, debate equipment, and celebrate performance in real time. For brands, this opens the door to more meaningful, two-way interactions that drive loyalty, advocacy and product relevance.
Smaller sports offer the rare combination of access, authenticity and influence without the bloated price tag of mainstream sponsorship. They’re not simply media buys. They’re cultural inroads.
From sponsorship to cultural strategy
What we’re seeing is the need for a new sponsorship mindset: one that’s audience-first, insight-led and digitally activated.
At Redtorch, we partner with brands that want more than logo placement – they want a meaningful cultural connection. That means reaching people who live sport as a lifestyle and a workout; engaging with female-led communities reshaping the fitness narrative; and connecting with recovery-focused audiences building movement into their everyday rituals – all through the power of sport, content, and culture.
And one of the most overlooked opportunities? Athletes in emerging sports. These athletes are often closer to their communities, more accessible and more engaged than many elite mainstream stars. They’re not merely competitors – they’re creators, coaches and advocates. Just look at Jutta Leerdam, Sky Brown and Eileen Gu – each redefining what it means to be an athlete by blending performance, personality and purpose. Working with them is often easier, more cost-effective, more authentic.
Rather than chase the biggest-ticket sponsorships, we help brands:
- identify high-engagement sports/athlete communities that align with their ethos
- build co-branded stories with authenticity, not just exposure
- deliver measurable impact through social-first, insight-backed activation
Data that observes and also directs
Redtorch’s SportOnSocial methodology measures digital activity, identifies early cultural signals and helps brands make better decisions.
By tracking engagement patterns across Olympic International Federations (IFs), our latest report uncovered a powerful insight: post-event engagement levels are significantly higher than many brands assume. Audiences don’t switch off once the medals are handed out, they lean in. They share highlights, debate performances, tag athletes, and seek deeper content.
This presents a valuable, often overlooked window for brands to extend the impact of sponsorships and drive more meaningful interactions with highly engaged, emotionally primed audiences.
It’s a moment where visibility can shift into relevance; where brand storytelling, content amplification and product messaging can land with real weight. And it’s exactly the kind of moment Redtorch helps brands identify and act upon.
For example, despite low media investment, we recently revealed that United World Wrestling – a mid-tier Olympic sport – posted three times more often after a major event than before, achieving three times more engagements. For a brand looking to build credibility with a purpose-led, digital-first audience, these are the signals worth investing in.
Shrewd brands are already making the shift
We’ve seen this play out with clients looking to break into new categories or markets by tapping into cultural intelligence. From defining emerging audience segments to building activation strategies that work globally but land locally, we help brands turn attention into brand equity. Longines, for example, has leveraged its sponsorship of the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) to reinforce its luxury positioning while resonating with lifestyle-driven equestrian audiences worldwide. Similarly, BYD’s partnership with the International Canoe Federation signals its ambition to connect with sustainability-minded consumers in fast-growing outdoor and mobility markets.
This isn’t merely a tactical play – it’s a future-facing approach to sponsorship and storytelling. In a world where media habits shift weekly and attention is fragmented, cultural fluency and digital agility prove successful.
A smarter play for fitness and sporting goods brands
If you’re a brand looking for:
- new routes into culture beyond traditional sports marketing
- audience segmentation that reflects real participation behaviours
- creative strategies rooted in insight and credibility
… then it’s time to rethink how – and where – you show up in sport.
Let Redtorch show you how smaller sports can drive a bigger impact for your brand.
Download the latest SportOnSocial Report or get in touch with Jonny to see how we access and turn cultural signals into a strategic advantage.
