iStock.com/Joe Hendrickson
February 18, 2025
Should Dick’s Sporting Goods’ Influencer Program Be Open to the Public?
Dick’s Sporting Goods is expanding its influencer program, previously only available to employees, to the consuming public.
Under the recast program, both Dick’s staffers and consumers “with a passion for sports and social media” are invited to apply to become members of the program, called Dick’s Varsity Team. Members work with Dick’s and its top national brands to create original social media content and share it across their platforms.
The 2025 Dick’s Varsity Team will receive:
- A paid contract for creating and posting content to their social media channels.
- A monthly Dick’s gift card to purchase products to feature in social content.
- Opportunities to be featured on Dick’s social media channels, website, brand videos and photoshoots, and in-store signage.
- Early access to select product launches, VIP events, and celebrity appearances.
- Insights from experienced content creators and industry experts and monthly learning sessions with Dick’s influencer team and their influencer marketing agency, Fohr.
Serving as mentors for the 2025 Dick’s Varsity Team are four elite athletes with sizeable social media followings: Tara Davis-Woodhall, a U.S. Olympic track and field athlete; Hunter Woodhall, a U.S. Paralympic track and field athlete; and Haley and Hanna Cavinder, fraternal twins who play basketball for the University of Miami Hurricanes.
Launched internally in 2023, Dick’s Varsity Team members have created over 1,000 pieces of social media content, attaining over 38 million impressions. Their content has been featured in 10 campaigns, including ones for Dick’s brand partners: Away, Carhartt, New Balance, and Brooks.
Mark Rooks, VP of creative, entertainment, & sponsorships at Dick’s, said in a statement, “The program’s continued success and the growing demand for authentic, first-person social content are the reasons we’re excited to expand the Varsity Team outside the walls of Dick’s Sporting Goods and bring together a new roster of sports-focused creators.”
Only a few other retailers, including Macy’s and Sephora, allow employees and customers to participate together in the same influencer program. However, enabling customers to become commission-driven influencers through affiliate programs has become more common.
One of the best-known is the Amazon Influencer Program, which launched in 2017 and lets influencers create their own Amazon storefronts, curate and recommend products to their social media followers, and earn a commission on any sale. The program is an extension of the Amazon Associates Program, which is used by entrepreneurs to monetize their websites or blogs.
In 2022, Walmart launched Walmart Creator, described as a “one-stop portal that makes it easy for creators to monetize shoppable products from the retailer.” Other retailers and brands with affiliate programs that support bloggers and influencers include Target, Best Buy, GameStop, Urban Outfitters, Nordstrom, Nike, Old Navy, Patagonia, REI, Petco, and Sur La Table.
A survey of 1,000 U.S. adults taken last fall from influencer marketing platform Mavely revealed that 52% of Gen-Zers and 36% of millennials have purchased a gift based on influencer recommendations, compared to 28% of all consumers.
A Morning Consult survey of about 1,000 Gen-Zers also taken last fall found 88% following at least one influencer on social media, with 22% following more than 50. Roughly a third (32%) of the young cohort want to see even more influencer content, and 57% would like to be a social media influencer if they had the opportunity.
Discussion Questions
Do you see more benefits than risks in Dick’s move to expand its Dick’s Varsity Team influencer program beyond only employees?
Do influencer-driven sales make as much sense for sports categories compared to traditional influencer categories such as fashion and beauty?
Poll
Loading …BrainTrust
Lisa Goller
B2B Content Strategist
Carlos Arámbula
Principal, Growth Genie Partners
Scott Benedict
Founder & CEO, Benedict Enterprises LLC
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Sport is a very social activity, and Dick’s has done a good job of sharing stories through its existing social media strategy. Professional athletes have an important role to play in promoting Dick’s, but there are a lot of creative sports enthusiasts in the amateur space who have things to contribute. By opening the program more widely, Dick’s will be able to drive content that is creative and fresh. It should also resonate with customers. The process of application and selection will, in itself, create a buzz – which is a good thing for Dick’s.
Dick’s is smart to grow its brand engagement by tapping into sports fans’ passion and networks. It’s like having an army of agencies as high-energy brand ambassadors. There may even be a competitive element, as the influencers strive to be featured across Dick’s owned media. Compared to fashion and beauty, sports is an underserved category for influencer marketing despite the gigantic crowds attracted to the sports community.
Far, far more risk: you’d be trading a known quantity – a Dick’s employee – for someone about whom the public knows nothing. Even it there were assurances the outside parties had been vetted, I think there would be suspicion(s).. And isn’t one of the main points of this to flaunt the expertise the company offers? How does a hired gun do that?
Sure. UGC is the bomb. Can’t wait to see tir new concept store down here in Miami. Not sure if it’s open yet.
The new location at Rosedale Center, MN is very impressive – certainly feels like it can replace a department store anchor.
A well managed program will mitigate any associated risks. The influencer approach is not new, especially in the sports category. A trusted and informed influencer will give consumers a more compelling reason to purchase a product than any retail sales associate.
By its very nature, sports and sporting goods are inextricably linked to support and aid the effort put forth by an athlete. Seeing and watching how athletes leverage different tools, products, and apparel in their competitions attracts millions of followers, some more rabid than others. So, Dick’s decision to expand influencer marketing to the public is brilliant. It will generate a whole new level of personalization and create entirely new marketing campaigns the company can leverage. Well done DSG!
This move really makes sense for Dick’s given the categories they represent in the retail industry, in my view. The Sports and Outdoor Recreation businesses have a number of market-leading brands, but the opportunity to cultivate and amplify individuals that represent the lifestyle and enjoyment of outdoor recreation is very compelling, to be sure. This program will serve as a case study for marketers on the potential value that influencer marketing can play with the support of a major retailer in the space.
It should be fun to watch.
This amounts to almost free advertising with virtually no downside. What is the old saying-even bad publicity is good publicity, or something like that. Open this program up, and watch as the brand strengthens.
Dick’s should open up its Varsity Team influencers. What is the benefit of keeping it closed from consumers? Closing your marketing feedback from the market who purchases your products makes no sense. Dicks would lose exposure, share of eyeballs, share of wallet, and a entirely different opportunity to market to a market that they don’t really communicate with.