Ryan Garcia is a 21-0 lightweight boxer who has over 8.8m social media followers and 1m+ subscribers on YouTube. Ryan has an illustrious skill-set in the ring, but he’s also been proactive in transcending that through content creation. From hosting a podcast and vlogging behind the scenes content about his life, Ryan has effectively built his personal brand. This blog will discover the impact this has on his marketability.
YouTube Content
The American athlete has a YouTube channel where he releases content including personal vlogs, training footage, pre-fight docuseries and collaborations with American influencers. He’s got a broad blend of content that will attract various audiences across sport, entertainment and culture. What Ryan’s done well is he’s found ways to merge boxing related-content with entertainment. This includes inviting TikTok sensations Dixie D’Amelio and Addison Rae for a sparring session, doing a body shot challenge with social media personalities like Demi Bagby and Lele Pons.
Ryan has close connections with the influencer community. This has been pivotal towards his growth on social media as it opens an avenue for engagement with the next-generation, arguably the most influential demographic in the sports industry. This will support Ryan’s commercial appeal and media value considering the influential audience who will follow his story.
Podcast: Fierce Talks
The 22-year-old also has a podcast called Fierce Talks with Ryan Garcia, hosted on YouTube. The show sees the boxer speak to professional fighters, well-recognised athletes and social media personalities. His channel has over 45,000 subscribers, and his most viewed podcast features MMA veteran Ben Askren. The content focused on the build-up for Ben’s fight with 3-0 YouTuber recently turned boxer, Jake Paul which acquired 1.9m views.
As mentioned, Ryan has grown to become a popular personality in the influencer/creator community alongside the boxing world. He’s a pivotal puzzle piece to merging the two audiences together. Fierce Talks is great to amplify Garcia’s brand power where his audience can come and listen to different topics depending on their area of interest.
Starting a podcast is a proactive move for Ryan to show he’s thinking ahead of options after his athletic career. He’s likely built many fundamental communication skills through his podcast, opening opportunities for punditry, presenting and other promotional sports activities.
Mental health advocate
This year, Ryan pulled out of a scheduled fight against Dominican Republic boxer Javier Fortuna due to anticipated mental health struggles. Mental health is a challenging enough topic to deal with. However, Ryan also has the predicted pressures of keeping his audience updated about his progress.
His bravery is commendable, considering he’s used his YouTube channel to create content around the topic, including vlogs discussing his anxiety. In his last 3 YouTube uploads, this is his most viewed video accumulating 290,000+ views.
This could be the beginning of Ryan standing for a social movement supporting people with mental health struggles. Many other athletes are advocates for it, including former rival Luke Campbell.
Ryan Garcia is sustaining a connection with the next generation through his links with the influencer community. His credibility within the boxing world is amplified through speaking to some of the biggest stars on his podcast. Plus, his representation to stand up for mental health could be the beginning of launching a social movement.
Sharing lessons sports professionals can learn through sports content 