Issue 33: Everything You Need to Know In Sport & Culture
From billion-dollar booms to burnout: This week, we look at the creator economy’s breaking point, and how everyone...like everyone is running.
⚡️The Big Story: The Creator Boom Is Cracking
The creator economy is on track to hit $500 billion by 2027. Brands, agencies and even Cannes Lions are all in, and the dollars keep flowing. But behind the hype, the reality is bleak. Most creators make less than $100K a year. Nearly half of those doing it full-time make under $1K. And 78% say burnout is already eating away at their motivation.
The demand side is clear: brands get higher ROI from creator’s content than traditional owned campaigns, and audiences trust creators more than CEOs. The supply side is endless because everyone wants to be a YouTuber or TikToker (expect me). But the system depends on real people turning their lives into always-on content, without stability or safety nets. Platforms make the rules, change them without warning, and offer little more than a burnout helpline when creators start to break.
The more creators fight to stay relevant, the more they risk losing the human qualities that made them appealing in the first place. Success often goes not to the most talented, but to those most willing to strip their private lives bare for views and brand deals. It is a race to the bottom for personal boundaries, and the market is rewarding it.
The creator economy didn’t invent exploitation, but it made it aspirational. Until brands and platforms invest in long-term creator health, fairer contracts and respect for limits, we will keep seeing the same story play out: record profits for the system, exhaustion for the people inside it.
The question is not whether this model works, it’s whether it should.
🚨Pulse Check
🏟 Everyone’s investing in sport
From Vogue to BET, media outlets are building sports desks, while brands slide athletes into everything from mascara ads to car commercials. Now US CMOs say they’re upping sponsorship spend, despite 76% admitting they can’t actually measure if it’s working. ROI? More like vibes-only.
👟 Run clubs are the new nightclubs
Strava says run club participation jumped 59% in 2024. Less tequila shots, more electrolyte shots. Fitness, friendship and a solid excuse for matching track jackets — say less.
☀️ Another Summer, another label
Boots Only Summer. Blokecore Summer. Why does every summer get branded like an influencer collab? The NYT says it’s simple: marketing. And we, apparently, are buying it (well, I am anyway).
📌 Pinterest’s big win (and wobble)
Q2 2025: $998M in revenue, 578M monthly users (half of them Gen Z) and male Gen Z searches for “rock climbing aesthetic” up 95%. But despite the growth, stock fell 10% after missing Wall Street targets. The algorithm can serve you inspo, but it can’t always please the markets.
🏈 Guess the caption, win bragging rights
The Chiefs played a game: read a social caption and guess which teammate wrote it. Turns out, their off-field skills include savage one-liners. Your turn to play along.
📺 PlayersTV puts athletes in charge
A media network co-owned by 50+ pros, Kyrie, D-Wade, Travis Kelce, and open to fan investors. The pitch: give athletes the mic, let them tell their own stories, and reach 300M+ devices in the process.
💬 Subculture bets on experts
From the team behind Blackweek comes a new social platform that pays niche experts 60% of ad revenue. It’s part of the shift to smaller, values-led communities where influence is about knowledge, not follower count.
🥊 Paramount+ makes fights cheaper to watch
Forget $100 PPVs, UFC bouts are now streamable if you’ve got Paramount+ (or Netflix before it). More viewers, fewer dodgy streams, still plenty of bruises.
👖 Sydney Sweeney brings the heat, not sales
American Eagle’s Sweeney-led campaign is sparking plenty of online debate, but early data shows no real sales bump. The internet’s talking, just not necessarily buying. I personally find this whole discourse very dull and Sydney Sweeney isn’t being cancelled.
🔦The HitList
Say hey to maybe the nicest person at adidas, Anna George
What’s your favourite TikTok account right now?
Omg it's like choosing a favorite child. @emilyzugay always makes me laugh. It would be awesome if she did adidas.
Whose Instagram Stories do you always watch?
The first 20 when I open the app and @giggly.squad always
Reddit, X, Threads, Tumblr or nah?
Reddit! Good tips from strangers
What’s the last thing you Googled?
Charleston weather. Going on vacay there tomorrow and there is hurricane approaching.
What app on your phone do you open the most (besides socials)?
Spotify. I'm never not listening to a podcast. If ya need a rec, I'm your girl.
What’s a completely random thing you’re obsessed with right now?
The Middleditch & Shwartz special on Netflix. If you want to stop breathing from laughing so hard, I'd recommend you give this a watch
Who’s your favourite athlete?
Kelly Slater! When I was a kid I would stay up so late to watch surf competitions in like Tahiti or Bali
What’s the best sporting moment you’ve ever seen live (on TV or IRL)?
I remember watching Misty May and Kerri Walsh win the gold medal match at the 2008 Olympics on TV! It was summer break, I'd just gotten home from swim practice. They really inspired me to start playing volleyball!
What’s your most controversial sports opinion?
I really don't like American football. Yes, I am from the US. Don't @ me.
Finally, if adidas let you launch a shoe collab tomorrow, who would it be with?
Ok why was Sour Patch the first thing that popped in my head?! Hear me out...A watermelon colorway with a jelly bottom…
Like every week, a big thank you to Casey Lewis, Culture of Sport, ICYMI by Lia Haberman, Daniel-Yaw Miller, Offball, GWI, Ochuko Akpovbovbo and Huddle Up, for all these cultural insights. Without you, this collection of nuggets wouldn’t be possible.