A media kit is your professional handshake with every brand you'll ever work with. But what belongs in it changes dramatically depending on where you are. Here's exactly what to include — and why — at each stage of your journey.

Most athletes either wait too long to create a media kit — scrambling to put something together when an opportunity is already at the door — or they build one that doesn't match where they actually are in their career. Both cost you. A media kit that oversells a small following looks dishonest. A media kit that undersells a massive, loyal audience leaves money on the table.

Your media kit isn't just a document. It's a mirror — it should reflect exactly who you are right now, and make clear the direction you're heading.

Think of your media kit as a living document that evolves alongside your career. You don't need to wait until you're "big enough" to have one. In fact, having a well-crafted kit from day one is one of the clearest signals to a brand that you're serious, organized, and worth their time. Here's how to build it right at each stage.

Stage One: The Foundation

Starting out, 0-5K following

The Stage One Mindset

Brands working with micro-creators are betting on potential and authenticity, not scale. Your kit should feel personal and honest. Write it in your own voice, not corporate-speak. Specificity wins here — "I create content for Division II football players preparing for the NFL draft" is infinitely more useful to a brand than "I create sports content."

 

Stage Two: The Growth Kit

Actively Gaining Traction 5k-50k

Something has shifted. You've proven the concept. Brands are starting to reach out organically — or they will soon. This is the stage where your media kit needs to make the jump from "here's who I am" to "here's what a partnership with me actually delivers." The focus moves from story to results.

Upgrade your format — a designed PDF (Canva, Adobe Express, or even Figma) signals that you're treating this professionally. Length can expand to three to five pages, with data doing more of the talking. Now you have real numbers to work with: audience breakdowns, post performance, growth trends, and ideally at least one or two past collaboration examples to reference.

This is also the stage to start thinking about what working with you costs. Even a rough rate card — or at minimum a note that pricing is available upon request — removes ambiguity and signals that you take partnerships seriously. Brands respect athletes who know their value.

What to Include

✓ Everything from Stage One, significantly upgraded

✓ Detailed audience demographics — age, gender split, top locations

✓ Platform-by-platform metrics breakdown with screenshots

✓ Average engagement rate per platform

✓ Follower growth chart (3–6 month trend)

✓ Top performing posts with view/reach/engagement data

✓1-3 past collaboration examples with brands (even small ones)

✓ A short testimonial from a previous brand partner if available

✓ Content formats you offer: posts, reels, stories, emails, events

✓ Basic rate card or "rates available upon request" statement

✓ Brand values and the type of brands you will and won't work with

✓ Professional headshots — multiple options, multiple contexts

Lead with Engagement, Not Just Reach

At this stage, many athletes make the mistake of only showcasing follower counts. But brands have grown savvy — they know 20,000 highly engaged followers who trust your opinion is more valuable than 200,000 passive scrollers. Build a section that highlights your most impressive content performance metrics. Average story views, link clicks, comment quality — all of it tells the story that raw follower counts can't.

Stage Three: The Full Kit

Securing Large Partnerships 50k+ Following

At this level, you are no longer introducing yourself — you are presenting a business case. Major brands receive dozens of partnership inquiries a week. Your media kit needs to walk into a room and function like a brand deck, because that's exactly what it is.

The tone shifts from personal to professional. You're not just an athlete with an audience — you are a media property with documented performance, a proven track record of partner delivery, and a clear ROI story. Think eight to twelve pages. Consider hiring a designer if you haven't already. This is the document that goes to a CMO, and it should look like it belongs in that conversation.

Lead with an executive summary. Include case studies — not just "I worked with Brand X" but "I worked with Brand X, here's what we created, and here's what it delivered." Show pricing in tiers, not just a flat rate. Offer custom partnership packages. Reference press coverage if you have it. At this stage, everything communicates that you are a serious investment.

What to Include:

✓ Executive summary: your brand identity in one powerful page

✓ Full audience analytics across all platforms with visual charts

✓ Audience psychographics: mindset, lifestyle, purchasing behavior

✓ 12-month growth trend and key milestone moments

✓ Case studies: 2–3 past partnerships with creative, metrics, and results

✓ Testimonials from previous brand partners (named, with titles)

✓ Press coverage, podcast appearances, speaking engagements

✓ Tiered partnership packages (awareness, activation, ambassador)

✓ Full rate card with pricing per deliverable

✓ Content production capabilities and team (if applicable)

✓ Exclusivity terms and category restrictions

✓ Business entity information and contact for legal/finance teams

✓ A clear next-steps page with your preferred process

The Case Study Is Your Secret Weapon

 

Nothing in a premium media kit carries more weight than a well-documented case study. Pick your two or three strongest past partnerships and build a mini-story around each: the brand's objective, the content strategy you developed, the deliverables you produced, and the quantified results. If you drove a 15% spike in traffic to a brand's site, or your discount code was used 400 times in a weekend, say so. That kind of specificity transforms your kit from a request into a proposal.

 

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Design Rules That Apply
at Every Stage

Regardless of where you are in your career, these principles apply to every media kit you'll ever send: 

1. One Clear Visual Identity: Choose two fonts, two or three brand colors, and stick with them throughout. Consistency reads as professionalism. Chaos reads as a first draft.
2. Always Send as PDF: Never send an editable file. A PDF controls exactly what a brand sees and signals that this is a finalized, professional document — not a draft.
3. Keep Your Numbers Current: A media kit with stats from six months ago is worse than no stats. Date your data clearly and refresh it at minimum every 60 days.
4. Never Pad the Numbers: Brands verify. A single inflated stat destroys trust in everything else on the page. Lead with what's real and let it speak for itself.
5. Make the Ask Clear: Every media kit should end with a clear call to action. What do you want to happen next? Make it effortless for a brand to say yes.
6. Tailor for Each Pitch: A templated kit is a starting point, not the final product. Customize the opening page for each brand you approach. It takes ten minutes and doubles your response rate.

 

One Final Thought: Your kit grows with you.
Start now, refine always.

The biggest mistake athletes make is waiting until they feel "ready" to create their first media kit. Ready is a myth. What's real is the brand opportunity you're missing right now because you don't have a document to send them.

Build a Foundation Kit this week.  Even if it's two pages in Google Docs. Revisit it every time your numbers shift meaningfully. Upgrade the format every time you level up. By the time a major brand comes looking, your kit will already be waiting.

Log into your member platform to get access to our media kit templates, other resources, and view upcoming brand opportunities.