Defiance pays dividends for Rapinoe & Co

Things began to change in 2018. That September, Nike featured Kaepernick in its 30th anniversary “Just Do It” campaign, proclaiming: “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything.” His and Rapinoe’s efforts, and those of other sportspeople, were amplified by the simmering activism of WNBA and NBA players, including LeBron James.

But it wasn’t until George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police in May 2020 that this new brew of civic engagement was unleashed. Athletes in the United States, Americans as well as international players resident in-country, protested in the streets in support of Black Lives Matter and against police injustice. Their efforts ricocheted around the world, inspiring athletes across the continents. As a result, individuals and teams increasingly lend their voices to a variety of causes, and this is due, in part, to sports diplomacy.

Sports diplomacy is the communication, representation, and negotiation that occurs in and around the arena, as University of London’s Dr J Simon Rofe, a sports diplomacy expert, argues. It’s a tool traditionally associated with government representatives, hosting a sporting mega-event or national teams. But its informal variety, the cultural, technical, or knowledge exchange that occurs organically people-to-people daily in a globalizing, Internet-connected, social media-savvy sports world, is transmitting ideas and ideals from one sports culture to another. That’s why sports diplomacy plays an important role in this era of activism. International athletes learn about different means or modes of protests and activism by living and playing overseas, by becoming friends with each other online, or by following the public stances of their foreign counterparts through social media. But what works within one country doesn’t always translate to another, thus it looks different from nation to nation.

In Britain, the Manchester United footballer Marcus Rashford redefined how athletes could use their platform to change government policy. Inspired by the current wave of activism, his crusade to combat childhood hunger resulted in a reinstatement of free meals to in-need school children during the COVID-19 lockdowns. The 23-year-old isn’t new to advocacy, but last year his efforts kicked into overdrive, helping more than 1.3 million children and raising more than $27 million for free meals, gaining recognition from the BBC, FIFA, and the Queen.

Sponsors took note. Rashford, who signed a five-year £2 million deal with Nike in 2016, is more prominent in the company’s campaigns, including its December “You Can’t Stop Us” spot alongside the tennis champion Naomi Osaka. McDonald’s joined Rashford’s Child Food Poverty Task Force and donated a million free meals for in-need UK children. In addition, the fashion group Burberry now features the striker in its advertisements while partnering on initiatives benefiting young people in need. Osaka, inspired by LeBron James, cracked open conversations about race and identity in Japan while sending shockwaves through its advertising culture. Last spring, she marched in support of BLM in Minneapolis and continued to speak out against racial injustice. Her activism helped fuel anti-racism protests in Tokyo and a more honest debate on race in Japan, which traditionally has not embraced mixed-race citizens like Osaka, who has Japanese-Haitian parents. In August, she participated in a wildcat sports labor strike after Wisconsin police shot Jacob Blake, then won the US Open while wearing face masks supporting victims of police injustice, including Breonna Taylor.

Osaka’s activism was not without criticism on social media and by some in Japan. Several of her Japanese sponsors were allegedly uncomfortable with her advocacy, reflecting an advertising culture that prizes neutrality as well as an absence of a sports activism heritage. Still, Osaka’s stances were a boon to business; the highest paid female athlete in the world signed lucrative endorsement deals in January 2021 with Louis Vuitton, Tag Heuer, and Workday, which all saluted her on- and off-court efforts.

It’s not just Osaka who reaps the new rewards of her activist stance. Rapinoe also enjoys increased sponsorship support five years after she started her activism in a far less welcoming environment. Today the face of US Soccer enjoys endorsement deals with Nike, Visa, Budweiser and BodyArmor, among others. She also has speaking opportunities, and a lucrative book deal for her new memoir, One Life. All of this last year amounted to an estimated net worth of $4.2 million. Rapinoe has 2.2 million Instagram followers and graced GQ’s February cover with her fiancée, WNBA champion Sue Bird.

Despite these examples, athlete activists still pay a high price in certain countries. For example, many sportspeople in Belarus joined prodemocracy protests following allegations of rigged voting in the 9 August elections. After authorities cracked down on protesters, more than 2,000 signed their names to “The Open Letter,” which condemned and demanded an end to the regime’s violence and human rights violations.