‘You’re in the Wrong Sport’: Tara Davis-Woodhall & Husband Hunter Expose Harsh Track and Field Reality While Revealing How They Make Ends Meet

Track and Field and money – oh, if there were ever a better love story where the protagonists will always be the rails of a train track, their paths never cross. Over the years, many have spoken about it, like Tara Davis Woodhall, who said,” You can lose money in track and field as soon as you step out the door. If I don’t have a sponsorship, who’s going to pay for this? I’m going to go in debt like 100%,” As much as it is an expensive sport, the money you can make in track and field is quite less. So, how did Tara Davis Woodhall and Hunter Woodhall make ends meet?

“Um well, if you’re in track and field for money, you’re in the wrong sport,” said Tara Davis Woodhall. Blake Morgan and Caroline Hendy talked to the Woodhalls in their latest Well Played podcast. Moran asked the Olympian about the couple’s way of financial freedom and how she feels about it. The Olympic gold medalist said, “So, um Hunter and I were definitely like that is not the way we’re going to be making our money. And once we started dating, we kind of like posted a little bit of pictures and videos here and there, and it kind of went viral and blew up on the internet and we’re like, ‘What the heck?'” And that is when someone gave them the recommendation to build a YouTube channel.

The 25-year-old said that before this, there was no combined posting. Ever since they started dating in 2017, the two have been posting different things on different accounts. Her account was all about her track and stuff, while Hunter’s was about his vlogs and all. “And so once we started making a YouTube together, we’re like, “Oh, like this could like possibly be something and do something,” she confessed. The Woodhalls’ YouTube channel came up in 2017, with their first video being about the Bean Boozled Challenge. Posted 7 years ago, the video as of now has 116k view.

She further told them that once the realization hit, they started doing it more seriously. “So we started taking it seriously, but we were still in college, so we couldn’t make money from NIL, right? Um, and which was hard. And then he did start making money from NIO and got kicked out of the NCAA,” she told. Earlier, student athletes were not allowed to earn money through NIL, it was only in 2021 when the rule was changed. Hunter Woodhall’s social media endorsements and his apparel company, Giant Hoodies, were deemed violations, leading to him and the NCAA chapter being closed.

Further talking about social media, Tara Davis Woodhall said it is a fun place and a great platform for them to share their story. “I’d rather share my story and be so genuine online than anything and share the world and share our sport and share behind the scenes of like what we do because we are not the normal athletes.” She said. Hey, they like being two 25-year olds. “We want to explore this world and um yeah, it’s it’s very not the norm for track and field athletes,” she continued. In February 2024, as she prepared to represent the USA at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, she expressed her enthusiasm in exploring the world. Hunter Woodhall has his opinions as well.

The Paralympian, talking about how their lives have changed after the Olympics said, “I like thought back to like when we first started dating like seven years ago and like and I was looking at some of our old YouTube videos and we would be like driving to see each other cuz we couldn’t afford flights.” The drive took place once again when Hunter had his operation and Tara had to take the road to come check on him. Further, he went on to praise his wife and said, “And it’s like it’s not where you start. It’s about finding somebody you can build something with and somebody who like builds you up, right?”

He said then that he saw potential in her, citing, “I from a very like early point like saw Tara’s potential and like everything she did and then obviously like everything we did together we just had a really good time.” Explaining the idea of their social media empire where they share day-to-day lives, he said that he wanted to create a platform where she can be herself, “an individual which helps so we kind of had to but and then I’m going to do the best that I can on my side of things and then we like were able to build something together which is special.”

Social media has given us a chance to pursue our dream – Tara Davis Woodhall

“I wasn’t trying to become a sensation on social media, but sharing my life with fans has allowed me to become a better athlete.” These were the words of Tara on her authority of the social media empire she has built. With 768K followers on their combined Instagram account and 907 thousand subscribers on YouTube, the Woodhalls are building quite the social media following for their living. On their handles, they recently collaborated with Dick’s Sporting Goods on the retailer’s social media program for influencers.

Expressing their gratitude, Tara took to Instagram and said, “Social media has given us a chance to pursue our dream. Specifically, any of you who have supported our content and careers. Without you, none of this would be possible. Back when we started, we didn’t have many mentors and definitely no financial support. But we just put ourselves out there, and we just figured it out. Luckily a lot of you believed in us from the beginning.” She then gushed about how Dick’s coming to them to be team captains of an amazing program, and helping others do the same, they were psyched.

“What a blessing to get to share our experience and learn from everyone there! Can’t wait to show you everything that went down. This isn’t a sponsored post, but a thank you to DICKS for investing in people! They’ve always supported sport, and are providing incredible athletes on Team USA” she said.

What do you think about this? Should more track and field athletes try social media for an alternate income?

The post ‘You’re in the Wrong Sport’: Tara Davis-Woodhall & Husband Hunter Expose Harsh Track and Field Reality While Revealing How They Make Ends Meet appeared first on EssentiallySports.