During this decade, we have seen globally acclaimed sports like football, motorsport and basketball commit to championing the women’s game. Therefore, we are seeing more women step up to be the face of the women’s game, such as Leah Williamson, Bianca Bustamante, Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese to name a few.

However, within the last year we have seen one woman’s career and profile transcend their sport at an unprecedented rate. Ilona Maher has become nearly impossible to miss, managing to build her brand and effortlessly adapt to the changeable appetite of society, popular culture and social media. She has shown that female athletes’ potential can be bigger than just the dimension of their sporting career. But what has this looked like and what can it teach the industry about incubating the future talent that are surely hot on her heels?

It is Ilona’s world, and we are all just living in it  

With her bubbly, straight-talking personality, Maher gained over 6M additional followers across Instagram and TikTok since the Paris 2024 Olympics, dwarfing the growth of male rugby royalty such as Antoine Dupoint. Online buzz around the athlete increased by 4,824% from 2023 to 2024.

This “Beast, Beauty, Brains” athlete has become a force of her own, galvanising support for whatever direction she takes her career. For example, her shift from rugby sevens to rugby union has raised the profile of the English game and its teams. This was evident in her signing announcement with Bristol Bears, which helped the club gain over 22K followers on TikTok in the week following the reveal.

Source: Bristol Bears TikTok account (@bristolbearsrugby)

The announcement post alone generated 366.7K visible engagements, making it their most successful piece of content since starting their page in 2024 – an increase of +2,918%, compared to their channel average (12.2K visible engagements)[1].

A sticking point for female athletes in building fandom beyond their individual sport to wider sports fans is often a lack of authentic male allyship and support that feels genuine rather than obligatory (as seen in traditional partnerships between men’s and women’s national teams). The strong endorsement for Ilona from male rugby legends like Dan Cole and Ben Youngs likely played a role in firstly, helping newfound women’s rugby fans feel included and accepted as part of the rugby world, and secondly, instigating conversation and curiosity for the women’s game amongst the men’s rugby community.

Ilona’s influence has also extended beyond the pitch. She often stole the show on Dancing With The Stars, with social media snippets of her iconic dances being some of the most popular content on their Instagram (4 of the top 5 posts feature Ilona), amassing just under 2M visible engagement [2]. She also was recognised and celebrated for her empowered femininity as a cover star on Sports Swimsuit Illustrated, People and Cherry Bombe.

In short, 2024 saw the full force of the Ilona Maher effect, with her influence making her bigger than rugby, and providing a blueprint for future female talent in the sport and entertainment space.

The Ilona cheat code

Ilona straight-armed her way through the glass ceiling, and her success is far from accidental. Whilst societal and contextual influences have played a role in creating an environment where she could flourish, Ilona and her team have been highly intentional with her brand and image.

Firstly, with over 5 billion users on social media channels globally [3], Ilona has leveraged the world’s insatiable consumption of content to expand her reach and connect with as wide an audience possible. On the podcast The Good, The Scaz & The Rugby, she highlighted the difference in her attitude towards social media versus her teammates, admitting that she embraces scrolling as part of her work, always researching social media trends to widen her audience appeal. Maher’s channels are reflective of popular culture but also infuse her signature Ilona twist with the occasional “sprinkle of rugby”, enticing curiosity amongst her new audiences, potentially converting them into engaged fans.

Secondly, the current political and societal climate is tumultuous, and in extreme cases hostile towards any kind of otherness. Ilona is passionate about empowering people and instilling self-belief through comedic sincerity. Naturally, being in the public eye invites intense public scrutiny but Ilona’s ‘take-me-or-leave-me’ attitude cleverly acknowledges but denies power to the unsolicited opinions from trolls or anti-fans. Maher is also an unapologetic ally for the talent of others, as we’ve seen post-Olympics, when she used her newfound influence and notoriety to encourage her audience (4.8M of which she gained during the Olympic period [4]) to keep audiences engaged with the Paralympics. Ilona is a fierce advocate for self and otherness acceptance, which is something the world needs now more than ever.

Finally, Ilona challenges the rigid standards put on female athletes – and women generally – reminding us there is no right or wrong way to exist. She has not pigeonholed herself as just an Olympian (although it is an impressive pigeonhole) or just an online personality. Her ‘say yes’ approach to non-rugby opportunities has helped her to cultivate her fandom beyond the women’s rugby sphere, giving her an ongoing relevancy within pop culture. This is most clearly reflected on her social media, specifically on her Instagram and TikTok where all or the majority of her top 5 posts are unrelated to rugby or not solely rugby focused (breakdown can be found in the Appendix).

How can brands (and rightsholders) harness such power

1. Brands, keep your eyes open & be curious

While 2024 was Ilona’s year, she has been grafting hard on social media, cultivating her brand since her first Olympic appearance at Tokyo.

Keeping abreast of the current talent landscape – looking at top performers, emerging personalities, and intersectionality innovators between their industry and culture – is key. Spotting these stars early will help brands to align and build in conjunction with their success. Whilst there is only one Ilona Maher, there are others like her across sports and entertainment waiting to be discovered.

2. Do the research

Authenticity matters – fans can see through surface-level partnerships that simply feature the most followed/biggest stars. If brands want to use talent effectively, they need to identify and clearly define what their assessment criteria is before researching potential ambassadors/collaborators. Knowing what data-led and subjective brand fit KPIs are important for improving your brand’s image is key to aligning with the best talent. These pre-determined selection criteria can also be used as part of a measurement framework to monitor the effectiveness of the talent and identify actionable insights to improve campaign strategy. By taking a strategic approach, brands can identify talent avenues that naturally complement their identity, ensuring partnerships feel genuine and create mutual value.

3. Involve Talent in the Creative Process

Once you have identified and signed talent, they should have a seat at the creative table. By actively including talent in creative brainstorms, brands can ensure that the signature flare and persona that makes them beloved is organically weaved into the campaign’s fabric. A recent example of this for Ilona was the Adidas partnership, which still had the brand’s style but through Ilona’s lens. Ilona has helped to further this by providing supplementary behind-the-scenes content on her own channels, emphasising that she is more than just a face in the brand’s ambassador roster, but a proactive part of the Adidas family.

4. Bonus Lesson for Rightsholders

Rightsholders should start considering the social influence and inventory that their female talent and performers are building. Understanding their passion points and social media literacy in general can help rightsholders:

• To enhance their own social media strategy and creation through support and expertise of the native social media users/personalities in their teams
• To give better recommendations to partners seeking to feature female talent as they will know who would be best aligned to the brand ethos and campaign goals. Ultimately getting the most out of the partnership for all those involved.

Ilona’s success didn’t happen overnight, despite 2024 appearing that way. She put in the work, and for the rest of this decade, many more female athletes will follow suit. Brands that take notice sooner rather than later will give themselves a head start to create and harness their own Ilona Maher effect.

Sources

1. Tagger | Dec 2024
2. Tagger | Aug 2024 – Nov 2024
3. Statista – Number of internet and social media users worldwide
4. Tagger | Jul 2024 – Aug 2024

Appendix:

Breakdown of top 5 posts on Ilona Maher’s Instagram and TikTok channels: