Professional sport and nicotine sachets: a promotional strategy based on virility

A partnership recently concluded in the United States between a major player in sports entertainment[1] And a brand of nicotine sachets illustrates the rise of visibility strategies for these products in the sports world. This trend, which affects several high-profile sports, is part of a broader context of normalization of alternative nicotine products, often presented as innovative or less harmful. It raises important issues regarding the promotion of these products, particularly to young people.

A key partnership between TKO Group and a nicotine sachet brand

TKO Group Holdings has announced a multi-year partnership with nicotine pouch brand FRE, described as unprecedented. The agreement grants FRE official partner status to several major entities, including UFC, Zuffa Boxing, Professional Bull Riders (PBR), and UFC BJJ, as well as IMG-owned entities such as World's Strongest Man and Formula Drift.

This partnership targets adult nicotine consumers, leveraging audiences primarily composed of adults aged 21 and over. It includes extensive brand integration through on-site activations, dedicated content, immersive experiences, and a direct presence at competition venues. The launch is planned for UFC 327 in Miami in April 2026.

Beyond its commercial dimension, this agreement reflects a repositioning of nicotine product marketing strategies toward high-visibility environments. Despite messaging focused on an adult audience, the popularity of these sports among young people and the circulation of content on social media limit the effective reach of this targeting. This limited target audience is all the more questionable given the principle of subjective age, which leads teenagers to admire and identify with young adults. Association with valued worlds, such as performance and competition, thus contributes to normalizing these products for a broad young audience, in a strategy of circumventing advertising restrictions through partnerships and integrated content.

A marketing strategy built on performative masculinity and high-intensity universes

FRE's communication strategy is based on a positioning explicitly geared towards a male audience, employing codes associated with virility, performance, and high-intensity environments. Across its media, the brand asserts a "bold, confident, and unapologetically present" presence and situates itself within worlds such as rodeo, motorsports, and extreme physical competitions, targeting communities engaged in demanding activities.

This positioning also relies on socio-professional groups valued for their endurance or physical commitment (firefighters, law enforcement, truck drivers, athletes), implicitly associating nicotine consumption with qualities of resilience, physical strength, and self-control. The brand thus effects a symbolic transfer between product and masculine identity, in line with a logic well-established in tobacco industry strategies.

Digital communication reinforces this imagery by employing visual codes from sports and entertainment: men in performance situations, festive environments, and the recurring presence of sexualized female figures in the background. This representation aims both to strengthen male identification and to associate the product with ideals of success and social attractiveness. Furthermore, highlighting attributes such as smokelessness, discretion, and usability in various contexts helps to position these products within a framework of continuous performance, lifestyle optimization, and also circumvention of existing regulations regarding smoking and vaping bans.

Beyond this partnership, nicotine sachets are part of a broader strategy of associating themselves with the world of sports, particularly high-intensity disciplines. Initiatives observed in the United States illustrate the involvement of tobacco industry players, such as RJ Reynolds, in competitions like NASCAR.[2], through the promotion of nicotine sachet brands. These associations help to embed these products in environments that value speed, risk and performance.

©Generation Without Tobacco

AE