Another pro athlete is making the case that OnlyFans can work like a sponsor. According to RNZ‘s Bridget Tunnicliffe, New Zealand beach volleyball player Olivia MacDonald says joining the platform’s growing athlete program has been a game-changer for paying her way to international tournaments.

A signing bonus, like a shoe deal

MacDonald, a 30-year-old member of the national women’s beach team known as the Beach Ferns, told RNZ she got the chance to become an OnlyFans athlete five months ago and received a signing bonus. She compared it to being sponsored by Adidas and said there are a lot of athletes in the program spread around the world.

On top of the bonus, she gets regular payments, and RNZ reports there is a bonus system tied to promotion, such as wearing OnlyFans merch when she does interviews and talks about the platform. She said posting regularly and interacting with fans brings in more money, and a management team based in America helps her keep up with the volume.

“Not on the other side”

MacDonald was direct about the stigma. She told RNZ she is not on the “other side” of OnlyFans, which she said is what people often assume, and that being on the athlete side has been incredible.

Her content is built around her sport. She described it as photos of her playing a bikini sport, Instagram reels in OnlyFans merch that the program requires, and what she called essentially her own modelling account. She has also posted training videos, including a cardio session, on OFTV, the company’s streaming platform.

Why the money matters

Funding has been a constant struggle, she told RNZ. She has often worked two jobs to keep competing, and while support from High Performance Sport NZ has improved and helps with travel, it is limited. Per RNZ, she said there aren’t many sponsors lining up for beach volleyball, and that without the OnlyFans deal there was no way she could have competed. The money even let her cover costs for herself and her playing partner to reach events after their regular funding ran out.

That partner is Shaunna Polley. RNZ reports the pair teamed up two years ago and are aiming for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, something no New Zealand women’s beach volleyball team has ever qualified for. In 2025 they became the first New Zealand women’s duo since 2001 to play at the Beach Volleyball World Championships. Injuries this year pushed their ranking down, but MacDonald said they are still inside the world’s top 50 and are targeting a single-elimination Olympic qualifier in Dubai in January.

Next up: India

MacDonald is back home for the summer and will play a two-leg series against India marking 100 years of Unity Through Sport between the two countries. According to Volleyball New Zealand, she will play both legs with a different young partner at each, starting with Auckland’s Mairangi Bay on November 12 and 13 and moving to Tauranga’s Mount Maunganui Main Beach on November 14 and 15, with free entry.

The takeaway

MacDonald’s story is the same one OnlyFans has been telling with its athlete signings: in sports where sponsors are scarce, a subscription page plus a brand deal can be the difference between staying home and getting on the plane. Her approach is also a reminder that the platform’s non-adult side runs on the same things as any creator business, namely regular posting, real fan interaction and help managing the workload.

Featured image: Mount Maunganui beach, New Zealand. Photo by Panamitsu / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Cropped.