Athletes’ next social media platform of choice? LinkedIn – Marketing Brew

You might not know Lewis Hamilton in real life. But you can always (try to) connect with him on LinkedIn. The Ferrari F1 driver is among a larger influx of athletes who have joined the platform in the past five years or so, according to Laura Lorenzetti, LinkedIn’s senior director and executive editor of global editorial. The trend started largely among retired athletes as they moved onto the next stage of their careers, Lorenzetti said, but athletes on the platform now include current pros. In addition to Hamilton, Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry and tennis star Sloane Stephens are both on the platform, as are a number of college athletes. “They are ultimately business people,” Lorenzetti told Marketing Brew. “They are professionals. Their first career is going to be their sport, [but] it is not going to be their last career. They are super savvy, and they understand that they need to be setting themselves up for whatever comes next, and they’re starting to do that earlier and earlier.” We spoke with Lorenzetti to unpack why athletes are leveraging LinkedIn and what it means for the players and platform. Big deals The rise of social media and nontraditional
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