The BackPage Weekly | SportPro’s 50 Most Marketable Athletes of 2025

SportsPro have released their ‘50 Most Marketable Athletes List’ for 2025. The eagerly-anticipated annual data-driven breakdown of athlete marketability across the sports industry globally.

In this edition of The BackPage, Jonny Madill gives some thoughts on what the 2025 list tells us about industry shifts and athletes and their brands more generally.

“There are plenty of notable headlines when it comes to the 2025 list.

💡 Lewis Hamilton at number 1 (again).

💡 Four females (Simone Biles, Ilona Maher, Caitlin Clark & Coco Gauff) make up the top 10 and seven in the top 20.

💡 The WNBA has more athletes than any other league.

💡 Bukaya Saka is the highest PL footballer at #19. Declan Rice also a big riser.

💡 Smaller ‘lower tier’ individual sports on the rise.

However.. the big takeaway for me is what the list tells us about athletes and their brands more generally, and the shift we are continuing to see.

An athlete’s brand value has become so much more focused on their ability to have a cultural impact on society irrespective of what is happening on the field of play. How an athlete communicates, the platforms they use, and what they stand for, are what are ultimately driving connections with fans, and brands.

This is reflected by more weighting given by Sportspro to things like “authenticity”, “purpose, mission and values”, and “cultural resonance”.

The athletes scoring well tended to be those who use their platform and their IP for more than sport - for purpose, community and creativity. Which is what fans and brands ultimately want.

This plays into the hands of athletes from so-called smaller or lower tier individual sports, as athlete brand value is now less reliant on a sport with the most prize money or biggest platform. 17-year-old skateboarder Rayssa Leal finished above Kylian Mbappé in 12th.

Gone are the days of athletes simply being the products and subjects of sports media content. They are now the creators, owners and distributors of content. Rather than being the stories, they are dictating how their story is told and speak directly to fans and brands.”