With the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics approaching, the playing field remains deeply uneven—not in terms of athletic skill, but in access to visibility and sponsorship.
For the few dozen athletes with major brand deals, the path to the Games is paved with professional support, stylised content, and media coverage. But for hundreds of lesser-known competitors—those in smaller nations, low-profile disciplines, or early in their careers—the journey often involves juggling training with part-time jobs, crowdfunding campaigns, or the hope of a modest national grant.
The IOC’s Olympic Solidarity programme is a vital lifeline, supporting over 420 athletes from 87 countries. But even with that backing, many athletes are under-resourced when it comes to storytelling, self-promotion, and commercial readiness.
These athletes don’t just need visibility—they need the tools to own their story and control their reach. And thanks to recent advances in digital production and automation, that’s now possible.
What was once the domain of big agencies—large-scale video production, deep audience analytics, strategic brand-building—can now be executed by a single athlete, with a team of intelligent systems working alongside them. This shift isn’t hypothetical. It’s happening. And it’s redefining what an “entourage” looks like.
Through agentic AI, athletes can generate sponsor-ready content, track social trends, and optimise their personal branding—all without requiring a massive budget. Full-scale media kits, personalised data dashboards, multilingual outreach: these are now accessible at the individual level. A Swiss snowboarder who trains in remote Valais, for instance, no longer needs to wait for national coverage to get noticed—she can build her own narrative and reach global fans directly.
Every four years, athletes from even the most obscure sports can find themselves in front of millions. A 20-second highlight can create a career—or fade into the archive. For lesser-known Olympians, what happens during those few days can change everything. But only if they’re ready.
The real question isn’t whether audiences care. They do. It’s whether these athletes have the infrastructure in place to capture that attention, hold it, and convert it into something lasting.
The technology is here. What’s missing is the transfer of knowledge. Athletes need guidance on how to build and manage a brand, how to structure content for engagement, how to speak to sponsors in their language, and how to measure success beyond the podium.
This isn’t just a marketing play—it’s a sustainability issue. Athletes who leave the Games with no digital footprint and no followership are forced to start over every four years. Those who build an audience now will have something to market, monetise, and grow long after the Olympic flame is extinguished.
Digital technology has levelled the tools—but not the terrain. That’s where federations, partners, and athlete support networks must step in. Offering not just financial help, but access to modern communications strategy, scalable production systems, and mentorship in self-promotion.
For sponsors, this is a chance to discover talent early. For athletes, it’s an invitation to move from passive visibility to active narrative-building. And for fans, it’s a chance to engage with Olympic stories before, during, and beyond the Games.
The athletes preparing for Milano-Cortina are not just athletes. They are creators, ambassadors, and potential leaders in their sport communities. It’s time we equip them accordingly.
Our full report, Sponsorship Trends for Lesser-Known Winter Olympic Athletes – Milano-Cortina 2026, explores how athletes outside the spotlight are funding their Olympic dreams. It covers everything from grassroots sponsorships and federation support to emerging trends like NFTs, crowdfunding, and digital brand-building. With over 420 athletes backed by the IOC’s Solidarity programme and new tools making content creation and data analysis more accessible than ever, the study offers a timely look at the changing economics of Olympic visibility.