Dick’s invests in in-house influencers as brands seek control

By Kimeko McCoy • January 22, 2026 •

The lead image shows a football player taking a selfie.

Ivy Liu

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The creator economy is booming and DICK’s Sporting Goods is vying for a bigger slice of the pie. Applications opened this week for the retailer’s latest iteration of its creator program. That in-house program gives Dick’s more control over its relationship with influencers and opens the door for ad revenue from external brand deals.

“This program has become pretty much our entire ecosystem for influencer marketing. So any time a campaign comes our way, we first look at this roster,” said Nicole Marcus, manager of influencer strategy at DICK’S Sporting Goods.

Already, several media campaigns are lined up with plans to start in May, Marcus added. Athletes helming this year’s efforts include American track and field power couple Tara Davis-Woodhall and Hunter Woodhall, and Savannah Bananas player RobertAnthony Cruz with Emily Harrigan, a former collegiate soccer player and sports reporter.

Bigger program and better results

DICK’S originally launched its ambassador program with employees in 2023 and opened to the public last year with more than 50 creators featured in more than 20 campaigns for Dick’s as well as brands like Adidas, New Balance, On and Hoka.

This year, Dick’s is looking to beef up its program with more creators and more sports as everything from women’s basketball to pickle ball become marketing opportunities industry-wide. The hope is a bigger, better program will produce bigger, better results, per Marcus.

“Year-over-year, we’re tracking how many campaigns we’re managing and obviously [the] dollar amount that’s flowing through us, and that continues to increase year after year,” Marcus added.

She declined to outline just how much the creator program contributed to the retailer’s bottom line. However, Dick’s Q3 earnings showed the retailer saw comparable sales rise 5.7% during the quarter.

Push for more control

These days, it seems more and more brands are going direct when it comes to influencer marketing, pushing for more ownership in the influencer dealmaking. Last August, meal delivery kit brand Blue Apron moved its influencer marketing in-house.

Food brand Sweet Loren’s is exploring longer-term ambassador relationships as creator spend increases. The brand plans to increase 2026 influencer marketing spend by more than 50% from last year, per a brand spokesperson, who did not provide specific figures.

Creator economy ad spend was projected to reach $37 billion last year, growing four times faster than the total media industry, according to the IAB. Brands, however, are struggling with influencer churn, rising costs and consistent performance.

“The reality of it is: it’s streamlined the distribution so that they’re able to have direct conversations with the audience that they’re trying to get in front of faster,” said Gregory Curtis Jr., director of influencer strategy and PR at Empower Media. Curtis Jr. is referring to brands’ push to in-house influencer strategy.

Agency relationships remain in-tact

Dick’s isn’t ready to close the door on its influencer agency partners, at least not for now, according to Marcus. For example, she added, the retailer will go outside its own roster and use external agency partners to find and source talent when the 50-person roster is insufficient for a campaign’s needs.

“One of the reasons why you see us expanding the team this year is because we’re running so many campaigns — especially within a few key categories, and we just need a larger roster to lean on,” Marcus said.

*This story has been updated to reflect this year’s cohort.