HAPPY WEDNESDAY
Last week I was in Chicago to witness Van Mathias break a world record in and I'm still picking my jaw up off the pool deck. It capped off a loaded end to October which also included young phenom Rylee Erisman breaking the World Junior Record in the 100 meter free with a scorching 51.22. November is already off to a hot start with me running and in-person branding and sponsorship workshop, this time for USA Artistic Swimming. Let's get into it.
In today's newsletter, we'll look at:
This week's biggest client news: Van Mathias's world record, a loaded Beijing roster, and Rylee Erisman's world junior record in the 100 free
A personal story: another branding and sponsorship workshop, this time for USA Artistic Swimming
Cejih's Corner: a rule of thumb for pricing athlete sponsorships
CG Sports Publishing: two reads building momentum
Our November business update: proposals, contracts, and the signing that made it all feel real
CG Sports Client Events
This week's biggest client news
Where to even start. Van Mathias broke the world record at the 2026 Short Course World Championship Trials in Westmont, IL — I was in the building for it, and I'm still not entirely sure my feet have touched the ground since.
Trials wrapped Saturday, and it's a loaded roster heading to the Short Course World Championships in Beijing this December: Van Mathias, Ryan Erisman, Rylee Erisman, Phoebe Bacon, Kieran Smith and Camille Spink all qualified for Team USA, and our own Kristen Romano will be there with them. Beijing, get ready for a lot of CG Sports gear.
Also at Trials: Rylee Erisman set a new world junior record in the 100 free — just weeks into her collegiate career, no less. Keep an eye on this one; she's just getting started.
Looking ahead: Jack Wallace heads to Colorado Springs November 3–4 for the USADA Athlete Panel and TrueSport Talks symposium — USADA's already asking to put one of his quotes on a pillar at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum, which is the kind of sentence I never get tired of typing.
Personal Story: Teaching the Teams Behind the Athletes
I got to run our athlete brand-building, deal-sourcing, and sponsorship workshop this week with USA Artistic Swimming — and the more of these I run, the more convinced I am of how valuable they are, and not just for the athletes in the room.
These sessions work because they get everyone speaking the same language — the athletes, sure, but also the organization around them, whether that's a pro team, a national governing body, a college program, or an athletic department. Athletes are always going to be the front line of the market for whoever they represent, so the better you can teach them to market themselves as actual ambassadors of the sport, the better the organization does commercially too. That's the whole pitch, and it's a good one.
Honestly, I still think the industry is only scratching the surface here. Not enough organizations are leaning into this the right way — teaching everyone involved, top to bottom, the same strategy and the same story. That's what makes the workshop click: everyone walks out aligned on the market strategy, the story we're trying to tell, and the understanding that a deal — whether it's an individual sponsorship, a social post, or something at the team level — isn't just a win for that one athlete. A rising tide lifts all ships. When your athletes are doing well and landing more commercial opportunities, the organization gets a bump too — the market starts paying more attention to you, full stop. The more I run these, the more that long-term byproduct shows up, and it's genuinely exciting to watch.
One more thing that's stuck with me: the feedback from athletes who've gone through this program and have since retired — into speaking careers, or just regular working life — has been some of the best validation we've gotten. They tell me, unprompted, how much the branding work we did together helped them in job interviews, or in figuring out how to rebrand themselves for the corporate world. These lessons outlive the athletic career by a long shot. Our athletes get to sharpen these skills while they're still competing, and it just keeps paying off long after.
Cejih's Corner
This week's tip: price the sponsorship to the story, not the follower count.
A sponsor asking "what's your rate" is really asking "what am I going to get." Here's the rule of thumb I lean on with almost every athlete we represent:
Start with reach, not vanity metrics. Follower count is a proxy at best — what actually matters is who's watching, how engaged they are, and whether that audience overlaps with the brand's actual customer.
Price the deliverables, not the person. A single post, a multi-post campaign, and an in-person appearance are different products with different rates. Bundle them transparently instead of quoting one number for everything.
Build in a premium for story. An athlete with a clear, ownable narrative — a comeback, a hometown tie, a cause they care about — commands more than the raw numbers alone would justify, because the brand is buying the story as much as the exposure.
Never quote the first number you think of. Sit with it, compare it to a recent comparable deal, and adjust for the specific ask before it goes to the client.
The athletes who get paid what they're worth are the ones whose reps know the difference between a follower count and a reason to pay.
Read the full post: Rule of Thumb for Selling Athlete Sponsorships
CG Sports Publishing
Uplevel Your Tennis (Matt Anger) just cleared a big production milestone — the manuscript edit is complete and it's moved into layout, with the cover already finalized. Still a ways from a release date, but it's officially in the home stretch of production. More to come as we get closer.
The Hardest Comeback (Scott Spiezio's memoir, pictured above) keeps building steady momentum months after release, with new media hits and a growing readership. If it's not on your shelf yet, now's a good time to pick it up.
Also still in market: pre-orders remain open for The Longview Longshot, Sam Perley's biography of former NBA player Michael McDonald — on sale November 27.
Our November Business Update
Quick zoom-out since it's the first newsletter of the month — here's where things stand across the whole team's pipeline.
Roughly $50K in proposals are out for review and north of $200K in deals is out for signature — powered by a few big renewals landing back-to-back.
But the number we're proudest of isn't a dollar figure — it's a name you already met last week: five-time Olympian and USA Basketball Hall of Famer Teresa Edwards, who officially joined the CG Sports roster at the end of October. She's exactly the kind of signing that keeps opening doors a dollar figure alone never could.
CG Sports Client Events
Nov 3–4, 2026 (Colorado Springs, CO): USADA Athlete Panel, Jack Wallace.
Nov 7, 2026 (Mesquite, TX): Clinic with Rodeo Aquatics, Lilly King.
Nov 14, 2026 (Rocky River, OH): Clinic with Lakeshore Swim Club, Levi Sandidge.
Nov 15, 2026 (Bay City, MI): Clinic with Bay City Aquatics Club, McKenzie Siroky.
Nov 18, 2026 (Baltimore, MD): Speaking engagement at Bryn Mawr School, Emily Oberst.
Dec 3, 2026 (Wilton, CT): Leadership keynote & Captain's Workshop at Wilton High School, Elizabeth Beisel.
Jan 10, 2027 (Issaquah, WA): Clinic with Issaquah Swim Team, Hali Flickinger.
Apr 10, 2027 (venue TBD): Clinic with Border Swimming LSC, Phoebe Bacon.
May 1, 2027: Beyond the Blocks 2027, Ohio Swimming.
Also brewing: a couple of renewal conversations we're not ready to put names on just yet — more to come soon.
Cejih and The CG Sports Company
