Beauty’s Dip Into Sports Partnerships Impacts Athletes

The beauty industry is no stranger to cross-category collaborations; it has extended its theoretical hand into nearly every sector, be it food, movies, fashion, celebrity, and everything in between. Over the last year, however, there’s been a convergence of beauty and sports, which has been posited as antithetical in the past.

That’s because, up until now, it’s been rare. Typically, companies have only sponsored big-name athletes like Michael Jordan or large-scale events like the Olympics and the Super Bowl, but underreported sports like race car driving and women’s college basketball never got the same amount of attention. Now, the tides are slowly turning.

First came the beauty sponsorships, including Glossier’s partnership with the WNBA and Miele’s multi-year hair-care sponsorship of the league, as well as NYX’s partnership with the Angel City Football Club and Charlotte Tilbury’s bid on Formula 1 Academy. (Speaking of the latter, Elf Cosmetics also recently became the first beauty brand to sponsor the Indy 500.) Then Dove linked up with Nike to encourage girls to participate in sports. Even athletes like Naomi Osaka, Venus Williams, Lebron James, and Dwyane “The Rock” Johnson created their own beauty companies. And it seems this is only the beginning.

Still, you have to wonder: what’s behind this sudden boom — and does it really make the impact these brands are hoping for? We spoke to a few sports fans and beauty executives to find out.

Why Are the Sports and Beauty Industries Merging Right Now?

First, it’s worth noting that beauty is big business. In 2022 alone, the beauty market generated approximately $430 billion in revenue, and that number is projected to grow to $580 billion by 2027, according to research by McKinsey. On the flip side, the athletics industry brings in $159 billion in yearly revenue, with expectations of 60 percent growth by 2033, according to the sports marketing agency Two Circles. So, from a business standpoint, the merging of the two spaces has potential to be highly profitable.

For some experts in this space, the combination of the beauty and sports industries is the best of both worlds. “We are setting out to bring what we call ‘sports-tainment’ to life,” Diana Valdez, head of consumer engagement at NYX Professional Makeup, tells PS. “We want to inspire self-expression through pro-level makeup as well as bring more visibility to women’s sports. We love that more beauty brands are getting involved — while these types of partnerships may be newer, the way athletes express themselves on or off the field has always been fun to see.”

Beauty has also become an extension of community, and bringing a sense of belonging is one of the biggest reasons why people become sports fans. Merging the two is one way for companies to tap into their genuine interests. “We’re continuing to see viewership for women’s sports grow year over year and seeing our audience overlap with several categories including soccer, basketball, and a few others,” Valdez says. “This [NYX] partnership with Angel City allows us to reach more people in an area, which in this case is sports, that our consumers are already passionate about.”

Brands have seemed to hear the call, picking up a presence in diverse sporting arenas that were never tapped before — and enthusiasts on both sides are starting to notice. So, what’s the big deal?

The Impact of Athlete Representation in Beauty

With this renewed spotlight on women’s sports, beauty enthusiasts are starting to see themselves represented in the world of sports and athletics like never before. For some, it’s the representation they’ve been looking for.

“I grew up the only girl in a family of brothers and I played softball, basketball, and ran track,” says Boston-based makeup artist Dulce Matos. “But I was also simultaneously interested in fashion, modeling, and pageantry.” This dichotomy, Matos says, was a little weird to some. “People would consistently tell me that I was ‘doing too much’ when I would wear my sports uniform and coordinate eye shadows, nail polish, and accessories.”

For Matos, the merging of beauty and sports feels long overdue. “Athletes can finally show their true personalities and don’t have to be stuck in a predetermined box of what they should look like because of their jobs,” she says. “It’s really cool to see and I feel like it’ll finally start to give others the confidence to embrace their love of hair, makeup, nails, or whichever beauty practice they enjoy.”

Athletes can finally show their true personalities and don’t have to be stuck in a predetermined box of what they should look like because of their jobs.

The influx in partnerships also breaks down the notion that athletes can’t be serious about the game if they love makeup or nail polish. Many people are glad that the world is finally catching up with that reality. “Athletes that play their sports in glam are just like me,” says Mariah Rose, founder of the podcast Hoops for Hotties. “I think we have this view of female athletes that is so one-dimensional at times and we forget they’re just like the rest of us. Some love the glamorous look of hair, nails, and lashes and others prefer something more natural. We’re not a monolith.”

Lydia Jacoby, an Olympic swimmer competing in the 2024 Games, agrees. “It’s easy as a woman in sports to feel kind of masculine — we’ve got muscles and are in the gym and do all these things that have traditionally been considered ‘masculine,'” she previously told PS. “But I’ve always loved fashion and beauty, and I’m very much a proponent of ‘look good, feel good.'”

That’s a sentiment that many athletes can relate with, no matter the sport. When Elf sponsored Katherine Legge’s entry in the Indy 500, it felt like permission to explore her femininity. “Early on I didn’t feel the freedom to embrace my feminine side as much as I would have liked to,” she tells PS. “Flash forward to now, I feel like [I have] the ability to fully embrace being a ‘girly girl’ and still be taken seriously behind the wheel, and have fallen in love with my routine of vegan and cruelty-free products that I know I can trust to hold up in the harsh environments I need them to.”

On the flip side, the convergence of beauty and sports also challenges long-held hypermasculine ideas about athletics. “Take Jared McCain and Caleb Williams,” Rose says. The two college football players recently made headlines for wearing nail polish, with the former later jumping on to TikTok to share why he participates in the self-care ritual.

“To see these athletes embracing personal style and being comfortable enough in their masculinity to paint their nails, keep their hair fresh, and care about their outfits despite what the public may say, shows individuality and I love it,” Rose says.

For those who appreciate both beauty and sports, this recent uptick in cross-collaborations is a good indication that the tides are finally turning. Still, they recognize that this should only be the beginning. “I hope the beauty industry continues to see athletes’s values in the way the shoe or athletic-wear industries do,” Rose says.

Ariel Baker is the associate editor for PS Beauty. Her areas of expertise include celebrity news, beauty trends, and product reviews. She has additional bylines with Essence and Forbes Vetted.