Robbie Manson Photo: PHTOSPORT
While many athletes scrabble for sponsors to keep their Olympic dreams afloat, gay rower Robbie Manson has taken a novel approach by setting himself up on the adults-only OnlyFans website.
The 34-year-old New Zealander told Reuters the revenue from the subscription-based service used for publishing adult-themed content had vastly increased his income.
"I get more than double what I would be on otherwise as an athlete - read into that what you will, but I am making more from OnlyFans than I am from rowing at this stage," said Manson.
"I thought, if I'm going to do it, you have to tell everyone, be really open and I think you need to feel that any publicity is good publicity."
Photo: AFP/BERTRAND GUAY
Manson was speaking the day before his Olympic men's double sculls final together with Jordan Parry on Thursday night (NZT).
He said he had been inspired to create a profile on the website by Australian diver Matthew Mitchum, whose Olympic gold in the Beijing Games was the first won by an openly gay athlete.
"The fact that I'm gay, I have the gay following and the audience already, and I'm slightly leaning into that. I wouldn't say it's for everyone, (but) for other athletes, there's definitely an opportunity there," he said.
Asked what kind of content he put behind the OnlyFans paywall, Manson did not want to give too much away.
Robbie Manson wins Poland World Cup gold 2017. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
"Artistic nudes - I don't want to say too much more than that, I think people need to subscribe if they want to know what's exactly on there," he said.
"But in the captions, I just try to give people a little bit of an update from time to time, like what's going on in my life or training or journey to this point, towards the Olympics."
Some nerves
Manson said that there were some nerves before he made his first post on the site.
"I guess a little bit, I just kind of did a post - I had thought about it and set it up in the background, and then it was like 'oh, I don't know if I want to tell everyone', but you have to, I think that's the thing."
Many athletes at the Paris Games have companies and individuals that sponsor them personally, but sports like rowing have to compete for that money with more high-profile competitors in more glamorous events.
Funding from Rowing New Zealand covers Manson's training costs, but he said that he needed to find other sources of income and the governing body has no problem with how he is doing so.
Robbie Manson. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
"I have a few friends that have supported me, but I don't have any big personal sponsors or anything - the team obviously has their sponsors, but I've never had an issue with that or Rowing New Zealand," he explained.
"I guess the people at Rowing New Zealand, the bosses if you like, they're aware that this is making a huge financial impact and helping me get to where I want to go, and they understand that we're not highly-funded as well. It's great, I haven't had any issues."
Manson said he would encourage other athletes in a similar situation to explore the opportunities offered by paywalled content, especially of the more revealing variety.
"There is a market, I think, for everyone - you've got to already have some sort of an audience, and I guess a point of difference, and you've got to be willing to tell everyone if you want to do it," he said.
"I wouldn't say it's for everyone, but I think I've just been very lucky to have the opportunity there, and make the most of it."
- Reuters
