Sport, Perfection, and the Role of Brands.

Sport should be a gateway, not a gated community. Brands that idolize perfection risk closing the door.

A Culture of Exclusion

Sport is supposed to be welcoming. Yet the obsession with elite performance has made it increasingly alien. Brands pile on, idolizing perfection that even the best athletes struggle to maintain. The impact is visible: according to the WHO, one in four adults and four out of five adolescents don’t get enough physical activity.

For brands tied to sport, this is more than a lost business opportunity. It’s a credibility test. The ones still pushing perfection risk reinforcing the very culture keeping people out.

Trap 1: Glorifying the Individual

The narrative of “personal bests” and “beating yourself” dominates modern sport marketing. But framing everything around lone achievement isolates the majority who play for connection, not medals.

Nike Run Club demonstrates a better path. What began as a training app evolved into a global community where people log miles together, celebrate milestones, and motivate one another. Parkrun operates on the same principle: turn a solitary jog into a ritual of collective progress.

Community-first stories build loyalty because they mirror why most people move in the first place, not to win, but to belong.

Trap 2: Taking Sport for Granted

Brands that assume sport’s value is self-evident miss the fact that billions of people opt out. The case for movement must be defined, and it has to align with a clear brand stance.

Under Armour leans into grit and perseverance, positioning activity as proof of resilience. Lululemon frames movement as balance, not domination, blending wellness with performance. Both approaches are distinct, and both give audiences a reason to care.

Contrast that with Reebok’s missteps in the mid-2010s. After years of chasing elite fitness culture through a heavy CrossFit alignment, it alienated casual athletes. What was meant to elevate the brand made it feel niche and inaccessible. Sales plummeted, and Reebok has spent years trying to claw back relevance. The lesson: when a brand over-indexes on perfection, it risks shrinking its audience to the point of irrelevance.

Trap 3: Worshipping the Greats

Superstar sponsorships sell products but widen the gulf between sport as spectacle and sport as participation. When brands plaster their identity onto once-in-a-generation athletes, they inadvertently signal: this isn’t for you.

Decathlon flips the narrative. Its campaigns rarely feature megastars; instead, they highlight everyday movement and make affordable gear accessible to anyone. By stripping away the aura of exclusivity, it creates room for people to see themselves in the story.

Trap 4: Following the Crowd

Most brands scramble for visibility in the same places: the World Cup, the Olympics, the Super Bowl. These events are commercial magnets but do little to set a brand apart.

Heineken’s sponsorship of the UEFA Women’s Champions League is a sharp counterexample. Instead of chasing crowded male-dominated properties, it backed the growth of the women’s game and positioned itself as a genuine supporter of inclusion. The move expanded visibility and cultural credibility.

Bottom Line

Sport doesn’t need more perfection. It needs more participation. Brands face a choice: reinforce exclusivity or build accessibility.

The ones carving out new relevance aren’t those chasing global mega-events or worshipping superstars. They’re the ones that celebrate community over ego, take a clear stance on why sport matters, reflect everyday experience, and invest in overlooked spaces.

Reebok’s stumble is the cautionary tale. Nike Run Club, Decathlon, and Heineken show the alternative. The future belongs to brands that close the gap between sport as it’s sold and sport as it’s lived.

It’s time to stop watching from the sidelines. The real game is getting more people to play.