Kaocko.cz – 21.1.2021
Autor: tos
How does David see social media, how does he work with them? And what about sponsors? Those who expect an army of trained PR professionals might be surprised.
‘Nowadays social media presence is necessary. Organisations want them, people want to see you there and I can see great potential there. It’s a big part of the whole game now. I’m managing all of my social media by myself. My website is under the management of an IT company. Other than that I do all communication with fans by myself.’
How does David Dvořák see social media?
‘I always listen to bits of advice but mostly communicate how is natural to me. If I get a message or a comment from someone wanting to chat about something, then I feel is only natural to write them back and maybe chat a little. It is important to be true to yourself and your fans.’
‘I really can’t imagine having someone else interact with the fans. There was a time, for about two months, when someone else was doing posts for me, but I wasn’t satisfied at all, it didn’t feel natural and the fans noticed. Since then I decided to do it by myself.’
‘Having a social media presence is very important, organisations and fans want more information about the fighter. Who has the bigger following will sell more tickets. I’m taking the non-controversial route, no trash-talk, no showing off, no scandals, nothing like that. Gaining followers without controversy is much harder, controversy = viewership. People want to see controversy, but I chose not to go that route.
‘It’s not the best thing to do, but I believe in having true fans who are interested in me rather than having more followers who are only waiting for the next scandal.’
‘I can’t tell you exactly how much time I spend on socials a day, but it is somewhere between 2 and 3 hours. It’s not only about scrolling through the feed, you have to pick the right photo, come up with a caption that makes sense. I want it to make sense, not just to throw something out there.’
The lookout for sponsors doesn’t end.
‘Interaction with fans is of course a big part of what I do. I get a lot of messages and I try to reply to as many as possible. It’s a part of being a sportsman now. If I can influence people by who I am, by my mindset, then it is worth the time. If I can only affect a few people, it is still worth it.’
‘Of course, there is the aspect of sponsorship. Most of the potential sponsors are only interested in numbers and social media. How big is the sportsman on Instagram and Facebook. How big of an audience can you affect. They are interested in the advertisement side, they want to collaborate. I personally don’t have that many sponsors, therefore I am grateful for those we already have. We are still trying to find new sponsors, even in these challenging times.’
‘Paychecks aren’t that big in UFC, whatever you may read somewhere else, they’re just not. You also have to pay 45% of them in American and Czech taxes. Then you pay your trainers, your manager, pay for preparation ahead of the match and what you have left is not very much. You can do the math by yourself.’
‘This is not affected by whether you win or not. You need to look for money somewhere else as well. We’re doing okay right now, but it’s still not as good as it could be. I believe that in future we can attract big names who could cover the biggest expenses, so I can keep the paycheck from UFC for me and save for a house or a car. But I’m not there yet.’
‘I consider my career to be one big investment, which I hope will someday pay off.’
