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I haven’t watched a single Olympic sport on TV.

But I still have a bad case of Olympic fever!

I’ve been absorbing the action through clips, memes, and hot takes on short-form video platforms.

So, given the huge social penetration, is it a coincidence that the Paris Olympics has averaged 34 million viewers across the first five days?

And how should creator reps think about NIL athletes to be prepared for 2028?

Let’s get into it.

NEWS:

The Olympics Feels Relevant Again

For the first time I can remember, it’s almost impossible to miss the Olympics this time around.

And I’m speaking as someone who often forgets when it’s happening.

Because the social buzz is everywhere.

The iconic picture of surfer Gabriel Medina was so perfect that there were rumors AI generated the image (it wasn’t). But that’s only half of the story: due to this moment, he’s gained over 2 million Instagram followers in the past thirty days.

Snoop Dogg has been everywhere, starting with his blunt-shaped torch and continuing with coverage of watching dressage horses “crip walk”. Another surge of over 1 million new Instagram followers in the past 5 days.

And, on a depressing note, Algerian boxer Imane Khalif, a female-born athlete, was falsely accused of being trans on social media by some of the biggest accounts, including Elon Musk, JK Rowling, and, of course, top Republican politicians, including Donald Trump and J.D. Vance which, just by eyeballing the reach of some of the top posts, received over a billion impressions in the past week on this controversy. (Happy ending: Imane medaled.)

Given this incredible growth and reach, creator reps are all talking about NIL again. Should managers start signing every skiier, bobsledder, and curler before the 2026 Winter Olympics?

My point of view: no.

First of all, the odds of signing the person who ‘goes viral’ during the Olympics is incredibly unlikely.

For every Yusuf Dicek, there are hundreds of Karalo Maibucas (ran in the 100-meter Men’s division for Tuvalo, currently at 111 Instagram followers).

The Olympics can give you eyeballs, but it requires a big moment to break out.

But you should absolutely look out for true creators who are also Olympic athletes.

For example, Ilona Maher from the US Women’s Rugby team was already crushing it on TikTok, and her coverage from the Olympic village led to even more growth.

She was prepared for the moment.

So if you are repping an Olympian, start getting their strategy nailed now so they’ll be ready for 2026 or 2028.

NEW OPPORTUNITIES:

Global Content? Localize!

I’ve seen a lot of Olympic athletes that are definitely not English-speaking in interviews speaking English exceptionally well.

Welcome to the age of AI language localization.

With companies like Papercup, DeepTune, and even YouTube focused on AI language localization, now with more work done to even match mouth movements and voice inflections, it’s getting harder to know what’s AI and what athletes are simply talented linguists.

Although the Olympics are a great use-case, it’s just another way of talking about any globally resonant content.

Soccer, physical comedy, modeling, cute pets, all content that can work well across the globe.

So if your content can achieve global reach, help it along by localizing now!

SOCIAL OPTIMIZATION:

Wait, you can monetize Twitter videos?

Yes!

During Elon’s reign, it’s hard to keep up with Twitter news because of the messiness in their messaging.

But in case you missed it, about a year ago, Twitter started promoting the ability for creators to monetize again.

Even MrBeast took a shot at it before deciding the money wasn’t good enough, but what’s bad for the beast isn’t necessarily bad for everyone!

You must decide whether your content is ‘feed relevant,’ which usually means it’s less about search/surf/subscribe and more about stopping the scroll and earning the share.

You do have to pay for Twitter’s premium service to have access to monetization, so you need to think hard about whether it’s worth it.

That means news, virals, satisfying content, and pranks rule the day.

Want to give it a shot? More info on Twitter’s Create program is here!

INDUSTRY HIRING:

Crunchyroll needs a VP of Talent Partnerships for anyone who knows who would win in a battle: One Punch Man or Goku (the answer: One Punch Man).

Marin Skincare needs a Head of Content & Social to remind you to use SPF face moisturizer every day!

UEG wants a VP, Talent (Celeb) if you have Ryan Reynolds on speed dial (I hear he can sell stuff well).

MEME ZONE:

Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this edition, give it a share and if you get someone to sign up, I’ll send you my ‘10 Rep-Friendly Ways to Monetize Today!’ deck!

Until next time, protect yo rep.

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