Naomi Osaka and the Athlete Mental Health Moment

In 2020, professional tennis player Naomi Osaka became the highest paid female athlete ever. This feat is compelling for a a few reasons. Osaka is a mixed race Black and Asian woman with Japanese citizenship who lives in the US. Her rise to the highest echelons of sports sponsorship is remarkable in an American society that largely ignores sportswomen compared to men and privileges white feminine athletes above women of color. Her ability to appeal to Asian markets also fuels her celebrity. Yet, her skyrocketing fame has also taken a toll on her mental health when she was very publicly rebuked and fined by the leadership of the Grand Slams for failing to attend a press conference because of her anxiety around public speaking. Her sponsors, comparatively, came out in support of her bravery and willingness to speak out on issues of mental health. In this paper, I examine the confluence of factors that gave rise to the lucrative Naomi Osaka brand for sponsors and the ways she is both privileged and disproportionately ridiculed as a woman of color in the sports media complex. Osaka represents a moment in sports media where difference is profitable, but visibility also has severe consequences for athlete laborers. I contend that the sports media complex must do more to protect athletes from the perils of visibility rather than simply relying on an athlete’s difference to increase their brand’s cultural cachet at the expense of athletes