Fast time vs. being marketable; Interview with Nathan White

Many people within the sport of Track and Field think sponsorship should take the model of cycling or triathlons where one person has many sponsors. To examine this better, I interviewed current triathlete Nathan White. Nathan is a new pro and recently finished  25th-place finish in a time of  2:09:21 at USAT Elite National Championships. He comes from a Track and Field background having run at Northern Iowa. 


OTRT: Turning Pro as a Triathlete seems to be a bit of a different process compared to other sports-can you explain the how your process went?

Nathan White:  USAT, the governing body of triathlon, determines at the beginning of each year which races will be the "pro" qualifiers. For different race distances, there are different standards the athlete must meet. In my case, I compete in olympic distance races so I will stick to that qualifying standard. USAT nationals in 2008 was the race in which I qualified to receive my pro card. Instead of taking it that year, I decided to stay amateur and race another year to gain experience. In 2009, I won the Hy Vee triathlon(one of the races they deemed a pro qualifier at the beginning of the year). After the season, I decided to sign up as a pro and compete as a pro in 2010. The qualifying procedure in triathlon is VERY difficult to understand. Most triathletes don't even understand it.

 OTRT:Triathlete has more than sponsor, can you explain how you gain sponsorship and how that works?

NW: Most of the time, beginning pro triathletes have product sponsorship only. They usually have a bike shop that allows them to use a bike for the season or have a running shop they can get free shoes at for the year.  As a triathlete progresses in their career, they can get corporate sponsorship. Most of the time, athletes will get appearance fees, just to show up to a race. To get sponsorship in triathlon, you have to get your name out on the national level. Doing well at races, talking to the right people, things like this will get you more known in the triathlon community. 

OTRT: How has social media / technology changed how you market yourself inside the sport? Perhaps the sport as a whole?

NW: Social media has helped in getting my name out to more people in more markets. Having a website, a twitter and facebook account has reached more people than just racing. I can post my workouts, tell people what products I use, show potential sponsors how I can get their company name out there. Triathlon is a rich sport. A lot of the people that compete in triathlons, even just for fun, have an average income of over $100,000/year. Technology plays a huge part in triathlon. The bikes are expensive, the running shoes are expensive. As an athlete, you have to be willing to try new technology and embrace it.


OTRT: What do you do to make yourself for marketable?
 
NW:To make myself more marketable, I have to do well at races. Its about as simple as that. If sponsors see you do consistently well at races, they're more willing to link you to their product or company. Another big marketing tool is how many people can you reach? If you can only talk to triathletes, companies are more likely to look you over to the athletes that can reach the average person. The more people you reach as an athlete, the better.

I try and meet new people everyday. You never know when that next person you meet is the CEO of some big company looking for a new outlet to promote their business. Living and training in Tucson, a healthy and active city, there's new people with like interests to meet everyday. Another way is thinking of new ideas or ways to promote a business. Thinking outside the box is a good place to start. If you're that athlete that can go up to a business and pitch them an idea they haven't already heard a hundred times can go a long way.


OTRT: You have moved across the country, what are some of the challenges you face as pro triathlete? 
NW: Its very hard to support yourself as a professional triathlete at the beginning of a career. Luckily, my wife has a full time teaching job, so she pulls in the majority of the money for our family. That allows me to train basically as a full time job. BIG help! I do have a very part time job at Carmichael Training Systems, a coaching company that my older brother and coach, works for. Its still a struggle to try and find money to travel to races in other countries on your own bill. It was and still is a big risk we took to move halfway across the country so I could TRY and see how far I can take triathlon. My wife left a great paying teaching job in Waukee, IA and I left a job at a running shoe store with a pretty good salary for Tuscon, AZ to train at a higher level.


OTRT: What are some actions that you think could be taken to gain a wider fanbase in the sport?
 
NW: Creating a bigger fanbase, I believe relies on race results and being able to communicate with the "average" athlete. I tend to think about it in terms of if I was a person that competed in triathlons for fun. I would want an elite athlete to come up to me and talk about regular stuff, not just about triathlons but normal, everyday life.