LA84 Changed the Business of Sport. LA28 Will Change the Business of the Athlete.

By Mikel Thomas, 3x Olympian, strategist and founder of OffTrack and Runway Sports Group.

In short: Brands are moving from buying access through leagues and events to building direct relationships with athletes, who now reach audiences year-round. LA28 will be the first Games where that shift is visible at scale. The athletes, brands and sporting organizations that prepare now will capture the value. Mikel Thomas calls this the move from performance to ownership.

Key takeaways

• Major sponsorships still work, but brands are asking who they reach, not only how many.

• Athletes are now distribution channels in their own right, with audiences that travel with them.

• Athletes are developed for performance but rarely for commercial value. That gap is the opportunity.

• LA28 is the next commercial turning point, as LA84 was.

• Start with the objective, not the sponsorship asset.

LA84 changed the business of sport. LA28 will change the business of the athlete.

McDonald's is ending its 32-year FIFA World Cup sponsorship.

Visa has moved away from its league-wide NFL partnership and is now building relationships with 13 individual teams, while continuing to engage athletes and creators.

And more than a decade ago, Adidas made a similar decision when it chose not to renew its NBA apparel agreement, instead directing greater investment toward products, basketball players, and grassroots development.

Three major brands. Three different decisions.

But there's a common thread worth paying attention to.

The way brands access sport, communities, and consumers is changing.

And I believe we're approaching the biggest evolution in sports commercialization since Los Angeles 1984.

How has sports sponsorship changed?

For decades, brands needed major sporting properties to reach sports audiences at scale.

Leagues, teams, broadcasters, and international events controlled much of that access.

The model worked.

And to be clear, it still works when the partnership aligns with the brand's objectives.

The FIFA World Cup, Olympic Games, and major professional leagues offer extraordinary moments of cultural relevance that few other platforms can replicate.

But something fundamental has changed.

Athletes are no longer simply part of the distribution strategy. They are distribution channels in their own right.

Some athletes now command audiences larger than the teams and sporting organizations they represent.

More importantly, those audiences are connected to the individual.

Athletes move between teams, countries, competitions, and stages of their careers. Their communities can move with them.

And unlike major events that concentrate attention into specific competition windows, athletes have the ability to engage their audiences 365 days a year.

That creates a different commercial proposition.

What are brands buying now, beyond visibility?

Consider Visa.

After three decades as an NFL league sponsor, the company has expanded its portfolio to 13 team relationships.

Its strategy emphasizes local communities, fan experiences, commerce, athletes, and creators.

McDonald's decision to leave FIFA follows a World Cup campaign that reportedly performed below expectations.

And when Adidas chose not to renew its NBA apparel deal in 2015, it explicitly identified greater investment in players and products as part of its alternative strategy.

These aren't identical situations, and they don't mean major sponsorships are disappearing.

Visa, for example, continues to invest in global sporting properties, including the Olympics and FIFA World Cup.

But the decisions illustrate a broader shift.

The question is no longer simply, "How many people can this sponsorship reach?"

It's also:

Who are we reaching?

What communities are we entering?

What relationships are we building?

And what action are we creating?

This is where athletes become particularly interesting.

A team can offer history, tradition, and a powerful collective identity.

But athletes bring something different: personality.

They bring individual stories, perspectives, interests, and relationships.

And for consumers increasingly drawn to specific communities, lifestyles, and identities, that connection can be incredibly valuable.

Do athletes replace leagues and teams? No. They strengthen them.

The opportunity isn't to replace sporting properties.

It's to build a stronger commercial ecosystem around the people who make those properties valuable.

I've worked on the brand side, the property side, and now directly with athletes.

One lesson has remained consistent.

You don't start with the sponsorship asset. You start with the objective.

Sometimes a global league partnership is exactly what a brand needs.

Sometimes it's a team.

Sometimes it's a collection of athletes representing different communities.

And often, the strongest strategy combines them.

The mistake is assuming that the most expensive or recognizable property automatically provides the greatest commercial value.

A well-structured portfolio of athlete partnerships can offer year-round storytelling, targeted communities, flexible activations, and more opportunities to connect with consumers.

But the athletes need to be ready to deliver that value.

And that's where our industry has work to do.

Why don't most athletes have commercial support?

We've developed athletes to perform. Now we need to develop them commercially.

Think about how much infrastructure exists around athletic performance.

Coaches. Training facilities. Sports science. Medical support. Performance analysis.

We've spent decades building systems designed to help athletes reach their physical potential.

And rightly so.

But how much comparable attention have we given to helping athletes understand their identity, build their communities, communicate their value, and create sustainable commercial opportunities?

For most athletes, the traditional model remains familiar.

Perform.

Win.

Get noticed.

Hopefully attract a sponsor.

The world's most commercially successful athletes have already demonstrated another model.

They've developed identities, businesses, partnerships, and communities that extend beyond their results.

If this is the model for the top 1%, why aren't we creating pathways for more athletes to participate?

That responsibility doesn't sit with one group.

Athletes must take ownership of building their brands, with appropriate support.

Brands have an opportunity to invest earlier, build meaningful relationships, and grow alongside emerging talent.

And sporting organizations have an opportunity to strengthen their own commercial propositions by supporting the athletes who bring their stories to life.

When an athlete becomes more commercially valuable, that can create additional opportunities for the team, federation, league, and sport they represent.

This isn't a competition for value.

It's an opportunity to create more of it.

How will LA28 change the business of the athlete?

Los Angeles 1984 helped reshape the economics of the Olympic Games.

It demonstrated the commercial potential of major sporting events and became a defining moment in the modern sponsorship era.

Athletes such as Carl Lewis became household names in a period when endorsement opportunities and sporting celebrity were expanding.

Forty-four years later, Los Angeles will host another Olympic Games.

And I'm drawing a line in the sand.

LA84 changed the business of sport. LA28 will change the business of the athlete.

The next evolution won't simply be about bigger sponsorship agreements, more logos, or greater media rights revenue.

It will be about athletes establishing themselves as brands, communities, creators, and businesses in their own right.

Thousands of athletes will arrive in Los Angeles in 2028.

Some will arrive with major sponsors.

Others will arrive with extraordinary sporting achievements but little commercial infrastructure around them.

The difference between those two realities represents one of the biggest opportunities in sport.

And it begins well before the opening ceremony.

The athletes who start developing their identities today will be better positioned to create value beyond their competition results.

The brands that build relationships early will have opportunities to grow alongside those athletes.

And the sporting organizations that recognize the commercial strength of their athletes will be better positioned to attract partners and build sustainable businesses of their own.

The next era of sports commercialization is already taking shape.

LA28 will be the moment that makes it undeniable.

The question isn't whether the opportunity exists.

It's who will be ready to capture it.

What is performance to ownership?

Performance to ownership is the shift from being paid for results to owning your identity, audience and income. OffTrack teaches this method to athletes, helping them build identities and commercial opportunities beyond their performance. Runway Sports Group applies it to sporting organizations, turning existing assets, stories and communities into sustainable commercial value. I've worked on the brand side, the property side and directly with athletes, so I see this deal from both sides.

Frequently asked questions

Why are brands moving away from league-wide sponsorships?

Many are asking who they reach and what action they create, not only how many people see them. Team and athlete partnerships can offer local communities, targeted audiences and year-round storytelling. Major properties still work when they fit the objective.

Are athletes replacing sports teams in sponsorship?

No. A strong strategy often combines leagues, teams and athletes. Athletes add personality, community and year-round reach that complement a team's history and scale.

How should athletes prepare for LA28?

Start now. Define your identity, build a community, communicate your value and create commercial pathways beyond results.

How can sporting organizations benefit from athlete brands?

When athletes become more commercially valuable, that creates opportunities for the team, federation, league and sport they represent.

What is performance to ownership?

The shift from being paid for results to owning your identity, audience and income. It is the method behind OffTrack and Runway.

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