Young Athletes Build LinkedIn Presence Alongside Playing Careers
The number of professional athletes on LinkedIn has grown 31% since 2021, with younger players treating the platform as a parallel career track rather than a post-retirement option. Bengals QB Sean Clifford founded Limitless NIL at Penn State using LinkedIn to connect directly with executives; during his pre-draft top-30 visit with the Packers, GM Brian Gutekunst asked him directly whether he still wanted to play football. Denver Nuggets forward Spencer Jones has 23,000 LinkedIn followers, posts twice weekly on a structured content schedule, and made his first investment in wellness company Aescape after a LinkedIn connection led to a meeting with the founder. LinkedIn executive editor Laura Lorenzetti said younger athletes are a step ahead because they understand there will be a Phase 2 and they are setting themselves up for it now. Clifford says he takes meetings on Saturdays before games and tells partners to watch for him on TV the next day.
Why it matters
Athletes who build a LinkedIn presence during their playing careers create a second audience, one that is decision-maker-heavy and brand-deal-ready, while they still have cultural relevance from their sport. For talent managers, this is an underdeveloped channel with compounding value: a client with 20,000 LinkedIn followers of venture investors, brand executives, and corporate buyers is worth more in a partnership deal than the same client with 20,000 additional Instagram followers. The LinkedIn audience self-selects for high-intent professional relationships, which is a different kind of leverage in brand partnership negotiations. Reps should be asking clients to start posting on LinkedIn now, not after retirement, because the platform rewards consistency and the audience builds over years. The Jones and Aescape story specifically shows that LinkedIn connections are converting to actual investment deals, not just brand mentions.
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