A new Australian-made app has launched with the promise of...

A new Australian-made app has launched with the promise of commercialising the millions of social media followers of the nation’s biggest sporting stars by providing fans with intimate glimpses into the lives of these elite athletes.

20Four — the brainchild of former Fox Sports head of strategy Chris Haigh — has hit the market, bringing together the features of existing social networks onto a single platform that publishes original content generated by their sporting heroes.

The app has the financial backing of tech investment firm Chapman and has already signed on 60 athletes including rugby league great Billy Slater, Sydney FC’s Bernie Ibini, Australian cricketer Peter Siddle and World Cup winning netballer Sharni Layton.

The app, which is free to download, allows fans to follow their favourite athletes between games and in the off-season, with a mixture of athlete-created content and purpose-made clips from 20Four’s in-house production team.

“In 2017, an athlete is in their own right a media asset,” Mr Haigh said. “They have their brand, some of which are better than others, but they all have reach and that’s what we are here to do, to help grow that and show fans what they are about.”

Mr Haigh said the app was a win-win for fans and athletes as it gives the latter behind-the-scenes access to their favourite stars while giving those same stars a legitimate new form of income, outside their code’s salary cap.

20Four plans to monetise the app by partnering athletes with brands and marketers to create bespoke content that can be served to the millions of fans who follow these stars’ social media accounts. The app’s foundation athletes have a combined social media reach of close to nine million with about 3-4 million of those being unique accounts.

“What we are able to do is to take that media asset out to the brand marketing world,” Mr Haigh said. “We will make the connection between brand and athlete really easy, really quick and ultimately produce good content with these brands.”

While Mr Haigh said he wanted the athlete-generated content to be “raw and genuine” he said 20Four would also moderate “career ruining” mistakes of sporting stars who have been too quick to upload inappropriate material to their social media accounts. “Athletes know it will be safe and that they will be helped so they will be protected from messing up as we see from time to time with athletes on social media,” he said.

“In 2017, an athlete is in their own right a media asset,” Mr Haigh said. “They have their brand, some of which are better than others, but they all have reach and that’s what we are here to do, to help grow that and show fans what they are about.”

Mr Haigh said the app was a win-win for fans and athletes as it gives the latter behind-the-scenes access to their favourite stars while giving those same stars a legitimate new form of income, outside their code’s salary cap.

20Four plans to monetise the app by partnering athletes with brands and marketers to create bespoke content that can be served to the millions of fans who follow these stars’ social media accounts. The app’s foundation athletes have a combined social media reach of close to nine million with about 3-4 million of those being unique accounts.

“What we are able to do is to take that media asset out to the brand marketing world,” Mr Haigh said. “We will make the connection between brand and athlete really easy, really quick and ultimately produce good content with these brands.”

While Mr Haigh said he wanted the athlete-generated content to be “raw and genuine” he said 20Four would also moderate “career ruining” mistakes of sporting stars who have been too quick to upload inappropriate material to their social media accounts. “Athletes know it will be safe and that they will be helped so they will be protected from messing up as we see from time to time with athletes on social media,” he said.
The vast majority of the content to run through 20Four will be athlete-generated, but Mr Haigh said a small portion would also be made specifically for commercial contracts with brands and marketers.

“Ninety-five per cent of the content will be free of branding or partnerships. There will be no pre-rolls or banner ads,” he said. “We are finding athletes with a story to sell, helping them tell it and then we are getting a brand involved where the partnership is logical. It can be anything as simple as a ‘brought to you by’ model, which can be used on brands’ social channels.”

Mr Haigh said most athletes who sign with 20Four receive an upfront payment from the media company with ongoing payments tied to the deals that come from advertising tie-ups. One of its foundation athletes, Collingwood Magpies and Australian Diamonds netballer Sharni Layton, said she would use the app to not only show how she prepares for games, but also her everyday life, which is dominated by her three black cats: Chiggy, Peabo and Xena.

“People see me play netball and think I’m crazy because I’m an angry lady on the court,” she said. “I will definitely show the professionalism that it takes to be an elite athlete but I also want to show the me off the court with my family, my cats, my adventures and just having a laugh.”

Australian cricketer Siddle said he would use the platform to show his life at home and on the road. “This will give a little more insight in and around our games and our preparation and training. That’s what people want to see and that’s what I want to see of other sportsmen,” he said. “That will be the good fun about it, just having a laugh with teammates and giving people a chance to see what we are doing in our down time. The best part about it will be the insight we give into us as people.”