American Eagle and Gatorade are tapping student sports stars and athlete creators for influencer programs. After receiving several direct messages from student athletes vocalizing their interest in partnering with American Eagle (once the NCAA agreed to allow college athletes to profit off their name, image, and likeness), the clothing brand began working on a new influencer program exclusively composed of student athletes. The #AEAthleticDept program is launching just in time for football season, and Kedon Slovis (University of Southern California quarterback), Tank Bigsby (Auburn University), and Olivia Dunne (Louisiana State University) are a few young sports stars in the program, focused on developing content inspired by the sports influencers lives and appearing on American Eagle’s marketing channels, website, and blog. Gatorade is launching a similar initiative, teaming up with nine athlete creators who produce sports-related content on TikTok for its new Social Squad program. Briana Green (Harlem Globetrotters basketball player) and Caitlyn Schrepfer (soccer freestyler who often spotlights her juggling skills in her content) are two of the creators part of Gatorade’s Social Squad series on TikTok. YPulse’s Scouting Next Gen Sports Fans trend data shows that 33% of young consumers follow athletes on social media and 26% are interested. (Adweek, Marketing Dive)