We've hit 6x ROAS for equipment brands in your space for 24 months straight.
Your guarantee: 3x ROAS in 90 days or your money back.
For brands with healthy margins, high AOV, and willing to spend $1K+/day.
The reason your ads can't scale
A generic DTC playbook
Your team runs the same strategy they'd use for a protein powder. But your buyers — athletes, competitors, parents and coaches research for weeks and buy in tight seasonal windows.
Creative that blends in
"Game day ready" hero shots and product-on-white that looks like every competitor. A parent spending $500+ on protective gear needs to see safety proof, durability, and peer validation before they buy.
Flat spend, seasonal demand
Your buyers shop months before the season starts. Flatlining your budget across twelve months means underspending when they're ready and burning cash when they're not.
ROAS without the math
A ROAS number without checking whether it actually makes you money (at your margins, after product cost, shipping, and returns) is not profitable. We run your economics first, so you scale profitably.
Our System for Success
The sports equipment revenue engine
Performance equipment doesn't sell like generic e-commerce. Different buyers, different buying windows, different price thresholds. The Sports Equipment Revenue Engine is the system we built for this exact category — and it's why Light Helmets is scaling from $2K/day to $3-4K/day with a consistent 6.2x ROAS over 19 months+.
Phase 001
Before a dollar is spent or a creative is built, we run The Grid — our diagnostic that maps exactly where your brand can win in your category, and how your buyer actually decides.
Phase 002
Phase 003
We run your channel mix year-round but move budget where it's converting. Spend ramps into your sport's buying windows and pulls back from the months that don't so you're spending with demand and staying profitable at 3x ROAS baseline or higher.
our ads in action
Recent top static ad performers
Top performing ads we've run recently
THE COMPLETE OFFER
What you get with the sports equipment revenue engine
End-to-end paid ads with next level creative. Every deliverable below is included in our engagement.
Your Grid Position Doc
A documented strategic asset: buyer profiles, seasonal calendar, competitive whitespace, positioning language.
Complete Ad Account Audit & Rebuilds
Your ad account rebuilt from the ground up with sports-specific buyer data and seasonal intelligence. Meta, Google, TikTok, and other applicable channels.
Website Conversion Audit & Recommendations
A full audit of your site and funnel: what's working, what's leaking, and, if necessary, how to fix it. Implementation scoped separately if you want us to run it.
Monthly, Relevant Sport-Specific Ad Creative
Your assets, our creative process, driven by a unique strategy that helps you stand out from competitors and move prospects to buyers.
Seasonal Scaling Playbook
Spend scales with your sport's natural buying cycles. Profitable in-season and off-season.
Daily Campaign Management & Optimization
We don't hand your budget to the algorithm and walk away. Every day we're watching what's converting and moving spend to match seasonal demand while rotating in relevant creative to reach higher ROAS.
Monthly Strategy Calls & Performance Reviews
Direct alignment with you and your team every week. No surprises, no monthly check-ins where everything's already broken.
Live Databox Reporting Dashboard
Your real numbers, live, 24/7 — impressions, CTR, spend, ROAS, etc. One Databox dashboard, that's always available to view. No waiting on a monthly report to find out how the account's actually doing.
Direct access through Slack or E-mail
No ticket queues. No "we'll get back to you next week." We're one message away.
Risk Reversal
3x ROAS guaranteed by day 90. If we don't hit it: full retainer refund, and we keep working free until we do.
Sporting equipment brands
Ready to scale your ads?
Sports equipment brands typically can't scale paid ads because they're being marketed like a generic DTC store. The Sports Equipment Revenue Engine is built for this exact category and the brands running it are scaling past the ceilings their old agencies couldn't crack.
If you're ready to scale past $1,000/day ad spend and get 3x ROAS with a partner whose outcomes are tied to yours, let's talk.
The REsults
Light Football helmets
6.2x blended ROAS through Meta, Google Ads over 24 months
100%+ YoY organic traffic growth
Assembly Jiu JItsu Gym
Doubled monthly qualified leads YoY from Meta Ads
Foundry 13 Performance training gym
Grew monthly lead flow 72% YoY from Meta, Google Ads
See if you qualify
Book Your 30-Minute Discovery Call
We look at your current numbers, your margins, and your season, and tell you straight whether we can hit 3x for your brand or whether you're not a fit.
About
Hey, I'm Matt
I've been the buyer your brand is trying to reach.
I grew up playing hockey & lacrosse, then football at Michigan State and a stint in the Canadian Football League. More importantly, years brand-side at Xenith (acquired by Riddell), building a challenger helmet brand through every marketing avenue you can think of.
Antihero exists because every agency I dealt with (as an athlete and as a brand operator) runs the same generic playbook on a category that doesn't work that way. Sports equipment doesn't sell like generic DTC, and I got tired of watching it get marketed like it does.
We run successful paid acquisition for a small bench of equipment brands. We've developed a specific framework and approach to strategy, creative, and execution that helps us do this.
If you're stuck between $1K/day and profitably scaling, let's talk.
FAQs
Everything you need to know.
What if I'm currently spending $20K/month but want to scale to $30K+?
We can work with you if you're committed to scaling to $30K/month within 60 days. We'll start at your current spend level and ramp up as we prove results.
What if my margin is less than ideal?
We can make exceptions on a case-by-case basis if your AOV is significantly higher than average or if you have other strong fundamentals. Book a call and we'll review.
Do I have to sign a long-term contract?
No. Our contracts are month-to-month after the initial 90-day guarantee period. If you're not happy, you can cancel with 30 days notice.
What if I already have an agency but want to switch?
For a one time fee, we can run a 30-day "test period" where we audit your current setup and run a small test campaign to prove we can beat your current results before you fully switch.
What platforms do you run ads on?
Primarily Meta (Facebook/Instagram) and Google (Search/Shopping/Display). We can also run TikTok, X/Twitter, Pinterest, or YouTube if those make sense for your brand.
Do you handle creative production or do I need to provide assets?
You provide product & brand images/videos during onboarding, and we produce all ad creatives (static and video) in-house.
How hands-on do I need to be?
Minimal. You'll need to approve creatives (48-hour turnaround), optional monthly strategy calls (or we can send you a loom recap), and respond to optimization requests (48-hour turnaround). That's it. But we will be reporting weekly and in some cases daily based on performance.
What if I don't hit 3x ROAS because my product/pricing/checkout is the problem, not the ads?
That's why we have qualification requirements and stipulations. If you meet all the requirements and follow all the stipulations, and we still don't hit 3x ROAS, it's on us and you get your money back. If you don't follow the stipulations (e.g., you change pricing without notice, run out of inventory, etc.), the guarantee is void.
What if I don't hit 3x ROAS because my product/pricing/checkout is the problem, not the ads?
That's why we have qualification requirements and stipulations. If you meet all the requirements and follow all the stipulations, and we still don't hit 3x ROAS, it's on us and you get your money back. If you don't follow the stipulations (e.g., you change pricing without notice, run out of inventory, etc.), the guarantee is void.
What types of sports equipment brands do you work with?
All of them. We can work with brands across traditional sports (football, basketball, baseball, soccer, hockey, tennis, golf) and niche/emerging sports (motorsport, cycling, skateboarding, surfing, snowboarding, lacrosse, pickleball, rock climbing, martial arts, and more).
What's your typical timeline to see results?
Most clients see improved ROAS within 30 days and meaningful revenue increases by day 60. Our guarantee kicks in at day 90 because sports equipment has longer consideration cycles than typical e-commerce and we'd rather measure honestly than promise unrealistically.
How are you different from other paid media agencies?
Firsts, We know sports equipment: your seasons, your buyers, and the creative angles that convert; a generalist agency learns that on your dime. Second, we're paid on performance: a retainer plus 4% of ad revenue that only activates once we hit 3x ROAS, so we don't make real money unless you do. Finally, we guarantee performance: ROAS in 90 days or your retainer is refunded and we work free until we hit it. We can promise that because we only take on brands the math actually works for — the right margins, AOV, and proven product-market fit.