Your Next Partner May Be Rated AAA and XXX

If I told you that a widely recognized brand that has dabbled in sponsorship is seeking to build upon its awareness, shift its image and gain new business, would that earn it a spot on your partner prospect list?

What if I noted that its parent company just reported $6.3 billion in annual gross revenues—a figure that is 21 times what it earned five years ago—along with net revenues of $1.3 billion, gross profits of $819 million and operating profit of $649 million? Would those deep pockets and financial stability boost interest?

How about if I added that well known angel investor and metaverse expert Matthew Ball recently described it as “probably the most successful U.K. company founded since DeepMind in 2010, the most significant media platform founded since TikTok, and the most significant dedicated creator economy platform ever.”

Now what if I told you that the company was best known for porn?

The brand in question is of course OnlyFans, owned by the British private company Fenix International Ltd. And while its success and reputation may have been founded on adult content produced by creators, the platform is rapidly expanding to become a home for personal—but not sexual—content from celebrities and high-profile influencers such as Cardi B, Bella Thorne, Denise Richards, Carmen Electra, Larsa Pippen, Tyga, DJ Khaled and Fat Joe, who want to offer direct connections to their fan base.

The challenge for the brand’s marketing team is to get the word out that consumers looking for content in categories such as fitness, cooking, music, and art should check the platform out. As Ball mentioned in a recent post: “Many of the top accounts are not X-rated and some focus altogether on the sort of content one might expect from Patreon or Substack, or are otherwise just pay-gated access to a private (but PG-13 rated) Instagram with additional features and upsells.”

OnlyFans is not a stranger to sponsorship. It is the title sponsor of the American Racing motorcycle team that competes on the second-tier Moto2 World Championship circuit, as well as rider Logan Karnow in the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship. It has sponsored several auto racing teams in international series, including Pirelli GT4 America and the British GT Championship, and has partnered with the Professional Fighters League mixed martial arts promotion.

With that experience plus resources that would enable it to partner with top-tier sports and entertainment properties, rights holders should not have a difficult time making a compelling case for OnlyFans to step up its game and become more involved in sponsorship as a way to broaden its reach, educate consumers about its offerings and attract athletes and other talent to become creators on its platform.