Today, adidas will become the first major sports brand to enact a wide-sweeping, equitable and inclusive Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) network for student-athletes. Tied to this year’s 50th anniversary of Title IX, the new program will be laser focused on achieving an enduring goal from the brand: creating a more equitable future in sport.
The phrasing of the title is kind of restrictive and implies that there is one demographic at play. NIL is an expansive opportunity for brands to regain control of marketing which has devolved into influencers who fake streams, run ads and use corrupt systems to gain followers. The college athlete, by default, is capable of hitting a variety of potential fans and when handled correctly the athlete can benefit beyond scholarships and food plans.
Communities around collegiate athletes are supportive even in the smallest sports. The issue tends to be that the athletes in the less mainstream events aren’t generating the revenue of the money making sports of basketball and football. This doesn’t mean the athletes aren’t popular and can’t have influence. What adidas is doing is looking at their sports programs, where they already spend millions in product and sponsorship money, and they are moving funds in marketing from places where it’s harder to track the reach of the influencer. What do I mean by this? Which of these is a more effective marketing campaign:
- Investing in an Influencer popular on TikTok who dances to music and wears cool clothes, but isn’t under guidelines of any type for behavior, or
- Investing in a Collegiate Athlete influencer under guidelines based on financial aid and sports competition who hits a fitness audience, fanbase and alumni of an institution as well as followers on social media
Which athlete would generate the better response, short and long term? Consider this article Female athletes who have cashed in on NIL deals – JWS (justwomenssports.com) on women athlete have already begun to see the benefits of NIL. Also consider this post on the University of Oregon’s NIL program Division Street, which is basically a Nike NIL company:
DropX x University of Oregon Air Jordan 8 PE: NIL, IPO, DropX and the Evolution of Retail – ARCH-USA
adidas has smartly chosen to up the ante with the launch of their NIL with their sponsored schools. It’s an intelligent decision with the ability to carry the brand forward in the U.S. with important demographics, fans, athletes, students, and alumni. “With the ability to reach over 50,000 student-athletes across 23 sports and 109 Division1 NCAA schools, the new NIL program will give eligible student-athletes of all genders the opportunity, directly with adidas, to become paid affiliate brand ambassadors. Launching in four phases over the next 12 months, the network will begin with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Power-5 conference partners in Fall 2022, scaling across all schools by April 2023.”
