Collingwood players cash in on AFL GF ‘side hustle’ with demand for video messages from fans

As 2023 Premiership winners, Collingwood players are cashing in on winning the AFL Grand Final to meet fan demand. See how they’re doing it.

Scott Pendlebury and Jack Ginnivan of the Magpies. Picture: Michael Klein

As 2023 Premiership winners, Collingwood players are cashing in on winning the AFL Grand Final with passionate fans clamouring to get personalised video messages from their favourite star athlete.

Norm Smith medal winner Bobby Hill has been the most popular pick after his incredible performance at the game and commands $100 for every personalised message on the Swysh platform.

For Jack Ginnivan, it’ll cost fans $180 for a message, while Jordan De Goey is priced at $250. Nick Daicos is currently sold out, and Scott Pendlebery commands the top price at a cool $300.

Bobby Hill of the Magpies celebrates kicking a goal during the 2023 AFL Grand Final match. Picture: Getty

According to Michael Roth, founder of the Aussie video messaging platform, fan engagement with the Pies players is at an “all-time high” and they have been the most booked players all season long.

“From the moment the siren after the Grand Final, we saw an immediate spike in demand for fans wanting to get a personalised video message from one of their favourite Premiership players,” Mr Roth said.

“All year round we see demand for direct access to sports stars, but it certainly goes to another level after a Premiership win. We saw it in 2021 with Christian Petracca and the Demons, 2022 with Joel Selwood and the Cats and now we’ve certainly seen it this year with the Pies stars, with players like Scott Pendlebury, Nick Daicos and Jack Ginnivan all in very high demand with the fans.”

Scott Pendlebury and Jack Ginnivan of the Magpies. Picture: Michael Klein

It’s a nice “side hustle” for the players, whose video messages can charge up to $300.

So far, over 1500 athletes - mostly based in Australia and New Zealand - have signed up to the messaging platform.

“Out of every team in Australian sport, Swysh has the highest rate of use amongst Collingwood players, with 18 of their Grand Final Stars using the Swysh platform,” Mr Roth added.

Not all the money goes directly to the players however; Swysh raises funds for local charities too. For every video, the startup donates at 10 per cent to charity. That means the breakdown is: 50 per cent to the player, 30 per cent to Swysh, 10 per cent to charity and 10 per cent to GST.

“We’ve supported a number of different charity partners - we assign a local charity for each month of the year, or in some cases several months - and I’m proud to say that we’re about to surpass $1 million in total donations - a credit to all the incredible stars who use Swysh,” Mr Roth said.

Fans can book a video message from a Pies star at Swysh.

Originally published as Collingwood players cash in on AFL GF ‘side hustle’ with demand for video messages from fans