Hallie Deegan is four races into her rookie season in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, but the 19-year-old already ranks as the second most valuable driver in motorsports delivering over $8.5 million in social media value according to the Sports Business Journal (SBJ).
The David Gilliland Racing (DGR) driver ranked multiple times on the SBJ’s list of Social Climbers in Motorsports provided by MVPindex. Deegan’s position in the most valuable driver category was just behind seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson.
As her social media presence continues to grow, it’s easy to see how online strategies play a role in boosting a public figure’s value. From regular engagement with fans to smart partnerships, maintaining a strong digital footprint can be crucial. In fact, for many aspiring influencers, getting free Instagram followers can be a great start to building a credible presence online.
Additionally, in the overall female athlete category of most valuable partnerships, Deegan holds two spots – seventh with Monster Energy and 11th with Ford. DGR has factory support from Ford Performance and Monster Energy has been a longtime partner of Deegan’s.
One unique aspect of Deegan’s social prowess is all of her social channels and content are created and managed by the driver herself. Deegan is hands-on and spends time developing and executing social content to provide an authentic look at her life which includes her duties as a driver for DGR and other interests.
“Social media is an outlet for me to connect with people all over the world,” said Deegan. “It also gives me the ability to provide value to partners as seen with Ford and Monster Energy, and it plays a vital role in my ability to have a racing career when it comes to the financial aspect. Social media allows people to see behind the scenes and that a racecar driver doesn’t just show up to the track and climb in the truck and compete. There’s so much more to the career than that. It’s simulator time, sponsor meetings and obligations, team meetings, and doing things to try and grow my brand overall.”
According to MVPindex in the motorsports sector, Deegan gained over 600,000 followers in the growth category to bring her total followers to just over 1.3 million. She also jumped 247 spots to fifth in the driver rankings.
Deegan’s social presence has also caught the attention of Hookit, a sponsorship intelligence platform that quantifies and tracks the value and performance of sports sponsorships in social and digital media.
“Hailie is an incredible up-and-coming talent both on the track and off,” said Scott Tilton, CEO of Hookit Sponsorship Intelligence. “Her prowess on social media is evidenced by the fact that she saw an 82% increase in followers in 2020 and has a very strong promotional effectiveness score. She’s a huge asset for brands, quickly becoming the top ambassador for many of her brand partners. Look for her star power to continue to grow in 2021 and beyond.”
The California native continues to focus on her various social channels and most recently launched her own YouTube channel. Deegan often chronicles behind-the-scenes race weekend content and other activities for her YouTube subscribers. Deegan continues her racing season behind the wheel of the No. 1 Monster Energy F-150 this Saturday at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. The 75-mile dirt track event will air at 8 p.m. ET on FS1.
DGR PR