Athletes' pay tops the table as brands bet on sports
XR's 2025 State of Pay Report shows that sportspeople are scoring big as athlete pay in advertising jumps more than 100%, while celebrity and creator contracts are also driving ad budgets.
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Commercial talent payments and advertising operations leader XR (Extreme Reach) has released its State of Pay report 2025, an in-depth analysis of billions of dollars in advertising talent payments across thousands of commercial productions in the United States, from 2019 through to 2025.
“Spending on athletes, celebrities and creators isn’t just rebounding, it’s surpassing all pre-pandemic norms with no signs of slowing."
The data within the report reveals a fundamental shift in advertising economics and shows that brands are consolidating the number of productions while dramatically increasing investment in recognisable, high-impact talent, particularly actors, athletes and content creators while also expanding production beyond traditional coastal hubs.
“Advertising is entering a talent-first era,” said John Batter, CEO of XR. “Spending on athletes, celebrities and creators isn’t just rebounding, it’s surpassing all pre-pandemic norms with no signs of slowing. Brands are concentrating budgets around recognisable talent that can break through, and the data shows that strategy is now central to the campaign performance of the world’s biggest brands.”
Above: Payment to athletes has seen the biggest growth since 2019, with women's basketball taking the biggest leap in the last 12 months.
Key findings from the XR 2025 State of Pay ReportCelebrity pay guarantees reach new highs
Total spending on paid celebrity guarantees in advertising, including actors, musicians, athletes and other high-profile personalities, exceeded $1 Billion in 2025, representing more than 47% growth since 2019.
Athletes drive the fastest-growing talent spend
Athletes are the fastest-growing paid talent segment, with guarantees (contractually committed compensation) up 106% to more than $250M since 2019. NFL player guarantees more than doubled (+145%), while NBA player guarantees rose more than 200%, reflecting brands’ increasing reliance on sports figures with built-in, loyal audiences.
Women’s hoops hits a pay boom
Fuelled by rising fan demand and a growing roster of WNBA stars, women’s basketball talent drove 176% year-over-year growth in guaranteed talent payments from 2024 to 2025, and more than 300x growth since 2019.
Above: Celebrity payment has grown by more than 47% since 2019.
The creator economy comes of age
Content creator payment guarantees from brands and agencies surged 103% to nearly $45M since 2022, nearly doubling in just three years. Social Media Personality guarantees rose from 22% of creator deals in 2022, to 38% in 2025, confirming influencers as permanent, budget-line talent, not experimental spend.
“When social media and lifestyle influencers account for more than half of all creator payment guarantees, it’s clear they’ve become core to commercial talent strategy as well as a key component in cross-media advertising plans,” said Graham McKenna, CMO of XR.
Advertising production expands beyond the coast
While California retains its advertising production lead thanks to Hollywood talent and a strong production infrastructure, regional markets are capturing a growing share of production volume. Texas, Florida and Virginia collectively grew 27% since 2019, with Virginia alone surging 112%, driven by incentives, lower operational costs and growing crew bases.
“When social media and lifestyle influencers account for more than half of all creator payment guarantees, it’s clear they’ve become core to commercial talent strategy.”
“California keeps its crown in advertising production, but the map is expanding,” said McKenna. “Utah, Virginia, Florida and Texas are emerging as serious production hubs, fuelled by incentives, skilled crews and modern infrastructure. The result is a more distributed, more resilient advertising production landscape from coast-to-coast.”
Above: California remains the US's top territory, but other regions are growing.
A market rebuilding, and more concentrated
While unique advertising productions remain below pre-pandemic levels, production session payments grew 11% year-over-year, from 2024 to 2025, signalling a recovery. Brands are offsetting fewer productions by extending production days and generating more content per session, and while celebrities are appearing in more ads, average cast sizes have remained largely unchanged since 2019.
