How Pro-Athletes are using their Sports Success for a Hollywood Future

Historic sports-figures have made appearances in some of Hollywood’s most iconic movies. Whether it’s Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Terminator, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in Airplane!, or Michael Jordan’s star performance in Space Jam, there’s something great about seeing famous athletes bring entertainment to their fans in ways other than dunking a basketball. 

New England Patriot’s TE Rob Gronkowski will be contemplating this path as a new career choice this offseason after a Super Bowl loss to the Philadelphia Eagles last February. Gronkowski entering into an early retirement would break the hearts of Patriots fans, but NFL fans everywhere as he is one of the League’s most-liked athletes. His influence across social media and re-occurring appearances in the Super Bowl has only increased his popularity since entering the league in 2010.

Rob Gronkowski’s success on the field has helped improved his popularity off it. If we look at Google Trends there is data that shows Gronkowski’s search volume increases at the most important time of the year for football fans - the playoffs and Super Bowl. If we compare this search volume to actors in Hollywood with blockbuster releases there is a parallel to the one another’s success. Pictured in the graph below compares February’s hit-blockbuster Black Panther’s lead-actor Chadwick Boseman and The New England Patriots’ star TE Rob Gronkowski.

Both celebrities reach similar amounts of popularity throughout the year and peak in February. This is due to promotional events for both the Super Bowl and Black Panther. These similar levels of success has opened the door for athletes in all sports to make the switch towards entertainment industry after sports. 

The success of athletes today on the field is a fantastic way in improving a star’s influence across various forms of media - even if that means Hollywood. A bright sports-personality that can have the versatility to have an impact in a totally different industry is what happened just years ago to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. He was the second highest-paid actor of 2017 and is projected to continue his growth as he moves forward with his Hollywood career.