Athlete branding has emerged as a prominent topic in sport management research. Scholars have investigated both theoretical and practical implications. However, existing studies only address limited aspects of athlete branding. Therefore, this study examines the corpus of athlete branding literature to investigate opportunities for future research.
Using the Arksey and O'Malley (2005) framework, authors conducted a scoping review of the athlete branding literature from 1990 to 2024. Articles were coded for frequency analysis (descriptive) and thematic analysis (e.g. Ghodewar's (2008) PCDL model on brand identity: positioning, communicating, delivering and leveraging). Authors then synthesized the categories into subthemes.
A total of 111 articles were identified for the review. Professional sport (83%) was the most researched, using both qualitative (46%) and quantitative research designs (37%). The findings revealed a focus on positioning, communicating and delivering the athlete brand, with more research needed on how to leverage the athlete brand across various career and life stages.
This scoping review uses Ghodewar's PCDL model to evaluate the literature on athlete branding. Application of the PCDL model to the literature allows researchers to not only make scholarly contributions but to offer practical guidance to athletes, marketers, and their representatives.
