Texas Athletics Further Enhancing Access to Student-Athletes for NIL Opportunities
Texas Athletics has a new, more efficient and easily accessible platform to support its student-athletes in their name, image and likeness (NIL) exposure and opportunities. In collaboration with Opendorse, a nationwide NIL leader and marketplace technology company in the student-athlete endorsement industry, the Longhorns have launched their brand-new, Official NIL Marketplace of the Texas Longhorns, LEVERAGE Lineup.
Previously hosted on TexasSports.com, the newly expanded and enhanced Longhorns-branded NIL Marketplace, powered by Opendorse, allows for easier access to aiding, assisting and maximizing Texas student-athletes in their name, image and likeness opportunities. LEVERAGE Lineup allows fans, supporters, vendors and potential companies access to browse hundreds of student-athletes’ profiles and securely pitch those that they are interested in pursuing for NIL opportunities. With this dynamic and robust platform and its many tools, every student-athlete will have the benefit to participate individually, and work directly with any individual inquiries and outreach. And, interested third parties will have the ability to seamlessly pitch, book and compensate Texas student-athletes for NIL events and activities in one compliant and secure platform, built specifically for each student-athletes’ needs.
“This is another exciting step in our ever-growing and always evolving efforts in supporting our student-athletes in the world of name, image and likeness, and the many opportunities it presents,” said Texas Vice President and Athletics Director Chris Del Conte. “The launch of the new, Opendorse-powered LEVERAGE Lineup is in response to the enormous level of interest Texas fans, supporters and companies have in partnering with our student-athletes on name, image and likeness activities. Our Texas Longhorns Marketplace is another resource as we strive to remain on the cutting edge of this new space with access, education and compliance.”
Student-Athletes across all 20 of Texas’ sports programs will have the option to develop, create and build an individualized Opendorse profile. The profile is customized to their various needs, interests and types of projects they are pursuing, while promoting personal social media channels and other endeavors they are involved with that allow people to better get to know them. It truly allows every student-athlete to not only enhance their personal brand, but be easily accessible as clients for NIL opportunities.
“Texas Athletics will be a powerhouse in the NIL era,” said Opendorse CEO Blake Lawrence. “The program’s nationwide support and brand strength is second-to-none in college sports. With LEVERAGE Lineup, every Longhorns fan and alumni can now find, pitch and support every Texas student-athlete with one proven platform. NIL is here to stay, and University of Texas student-athletes are poised to benefit in a big way.”
Pitch to payment in under 60 seconds ?
Excited to further enhance access to student-athletes for NIL opportunities. #HookEm
— Texas Longhorns (@TexasLonghorns) April 4, 2022
ABOUT OPENDORSE
Opendorse, the NIL company, is the leading marketplace technology in the athlete endorsement industry. More than 75,000 athletes use Opendorse to build and monetize their name, image, and likeness (NIL) with support from thousands of brands, fans, sponsors, donors and partners including over 100 collegiate sports teams, Team USA, PGA TOUR, NFLPA, MLBPA, WNBPA, LPGA, and more.
ABOUT LEVERAGE
The LEVERAGE program, which is part of the 4EVER TEXAS student-athlete development initiative, has four main areas of focus: Personal Branding and Brand Management, Business Formation and Entrepreneurship, Opportunity Management and Financial Literacy. In the ever-evolving college sports landscape, student-athletes are more interested than ever in advancing their personal brand and setting themselves up for a successful future. With unmatched brand identity and unrivaled campus resources, Texas Athletics is well-equipped to offer student-athletes that opportunity. UT is uniquely located in one of the nation’s top-ranked cities to live and work and is a hotbed for technology and startups. Student-athletes at UT have limitless access to business opportunities just by being part of the Austin community.
ABOUT THE COLLABORATION WITH OPENDORSE
In addition to the NIL marketplace, Texas receives full access to Opendorse’s all-in-one NIL platform, providing best-in-class compliance, content and education tools to Texas student-athletes:
Content: student-athletes are equipped with access to on-demand video and photo content from the Texas Athletics External Affairs department through drag-and-drop media libraries, one-tap publishing technology, and real-time analytics.
Education: student-athletes receive brand value assessments, live consultation sessions with industry leaders, and on-demand access to the NIL Masterclass, an education series featuring experts on brand building, monetization, and financial literacy from leading brands including Meta, Twitter, the Players’ Tribune, Overtime and more.
Compliance: student-athletes can automatically disclose NIL activity details to their institution to ensure eligibility.
ABOUT NIL AND COMPLIANCE
Effective July 1, 2021, NCAA rules and Texas state law permit student-athletes to engage in these NIL activities:
- Use NIL to receive compensation from a business to promote their product or service;
- Use NIL to promote their own businesses or to promote a business that employs student- athletes;
- Receive compensation to sign autographs or appear at a business or private event; and/or
- Utilize an agent to assist with NIL activities, provided there is a written agreement between the student-athlete and agent that is specific to NIL activities and not for sport- related representation.
Interested supporters can visit TexasSports.com/LeverageLineup to view the updated layout.
