• Men's gymnastics had a breakout moment at the Paris Olympics, and the U.S. national team medaled for the first time since 2008.
• Fred Richard, U.S. national team bronze medalist, wants kids to fall in love with the sport, for athletes to gain recognition and maintain Olympic buzz, and eventually, for the sport to go professional.  
• With millions of social followers across TikTok and Instagram, a signature bobblehead, and six-figure brand deals across industries, Richard is critical to that goal.

With millions of "frederickflips" followers across TikTok and Instagram, a signature bobblehead, and six-figure brand deals across industries, Frederick Richard, U.S. men's gymnastics team bronze medalist, is a true standout who recognized his dream early in life: childhood photographs show him upside down in a handstand in his crib. But after medaling at the Paris Olympics, Richard is focused on leveraging his popularity to serve a greater long-term goal: bringing his sport to a wider audience.  

"I'm really passionate about changing the support around the sport," Richard told CNBC in an interview after the Olympics ended.

In the social media age, building celebrity can help to build a sport. While building his own brand, Richard, a University of Michigan gymnast, looked beyond his sport to entertainment industry personalities. "I saw the Kevin Harts and Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnsons and the personalities that became bigger than what they actually did. They had their one talent, and they built the whole brand off of that talent," Richard said. 

Richard's social media posts showcase a lighter side of a seriously difficult sport: flip challenges, joking around in practice, fails, and stunts with high production value. The sport is "a video game with a billion levels," Richard told NBC in the leadup to the Paris Games. His socials feature training videos with Olympics record breaker Simone Biles, and D1 vs. D1 athlete cross-sport challenges.

That content hopefully is not only driving more eyeballs to the men's gymnastics, but participants as well. Only 12,000 men were registered with USA Gymnastics competitions in 2023, compared to 138,000 women, according to the AP. Men's gymnastics consistently lags in popularity behind women's at the collegiate level, where meets are regularly televised, and at the international level. There are only 12 Division I NCAA Men's Gymnastics programs, and more are at risk of cuts. But Richard wants kids to join and fall in love with the sport, for athletes to gain recognition and maintain Olympic buzz, and eventually, for the sport to go professional.  

While the high-achieving U.S. women's team always garners massive global attention, the buzz is newer to the men's team, which before winning a bronze medal at the Paris 2024 games, had not won a team medal since 2008.

"Somehow what we did that [team finals] day actually inspired a lot of people and made them really want to root for our journeys in this sport," Richard said. "I don't think it's ever been a situation where that many people are watching men's gymnastics … and left feeling like it was worth it."  

He says the rise in fan engagement caused by the bronze medal can be a turning point for men's college gymnastics ahead of the 2025 Worlds. "That's how the NCAA and all schools look at each sport: Is it entertaining enough to bring in revenue and sustain a program?" Richard told NBC Olympics after the win. 

Social media has reduced the challenges in boosting exposure for largely non-professionalized, non-televised Olympics sports in the off years before the next games, exemplified not only by Richard but other standouts, such as content creator and USA women's rugby bronze medalist Ilona Maher who has millions of followers across social platforms. 

USA women's rugby received over $4 million in funding from investor and women's soccer club owner Michele Kang after the Olympics.  

With a medal in hand and stars on the squad, the buzz around men's gymnastics could potentially boost investment. Gymnasts don't traditionally receive a salary. It's all about the individuals. In 2023, Simone Biles, the most decorated gymnast of all time, made $7.1 million — $7 million came from endorsements, according to Forbes estimates.  

In 2024, social media was key to elevating USA Men's Gymnastics team stories and viral moments at the games, like the celebrations on the sidelines and the silent preparations for the medal-winning routine from pommel horse specialist Stephen Nedoroscik.  

A Northern Virginia gym that received one call per week of boys interested in joining the gym saw over fifteen in the week after the team final and Stephen's individual bronze, according to The Washington Post. Gym owners believed the families were inspired by the relatable, smiling, and spectacled Nederoscik, coined "'Clark Kent" by the internet. 

Richard, a Massachusetts native, told NBC Boston before the Olympics that getting young people both competing and watching is critical to building the sport. 

Summer Sanders, a triple Olympic medalist who leads efforts for athletes transitioning to post-Olympic careers, said that the window to obtain sponsorships, which grow an athlete and sport's audience, is the widest for athletes with personality, like Richard and Maher.  

"Especially if you've created a brand that's maybe slightly out of your sport, who are you as a person… I think they'll reap the rewards," Sanders recently told CNBC. 

Once name, image, and likeness deals were opened up to college athletes, Richard like many NCAA peers, was ready to capitalize on it with entertaining content. During his freshman year, Richard hired two videographers and began recording content daily and producing it weekly. 

Now, he has deals with Marriott International, Crocs and Celsius energy drinks, among others.

"We look at brand deals as basically how is it going to get me closer to that end goal [of growing the sport] not how's it going to just put money straight in my pocket," Richard said, who says he has close family to manage his finances but also has admitted in the past to spending some of that newfound wealth on purchases not surprising for a college student. 

"People who aren't doing the sport still need to follow it the same way people follow football, and no one has touched a football, a lot of the fans," Richard said. "A lot of people in gymnastics are growing up starting to have kind of my mindset," he said, referring to taking a creative approach to growing the sport.

"We all see it being done with other sports leagues. I want the same for my sport, and so I'm forced to get a business mindset, forced to start building things out to make an impact," Richard said. "As long as people like me come up in the sport, keep doing things like that, we'll start growing." 

Disclosure: CNBC parent NBCUniversal owns NBC Sports and NBC Olympics. NBC Olympics is the U.S. broadcast rights holder to all Summer and Winter Games through 2032.