Excited to announce I’ll be a speaker at the inaugural Gondola Sports Summit this year!

I’m leading a session on why content teams should embrace sponsored content and the strategies that encourage collaboration between content and partnerships teams—boosting revenue, driving creativity, and preventing burnout.

Make sure to use my code “sponconsports” to get $50 off your ticket. Hope to see you in Denver!

In Today’s Edition:

• The Keys To Success For Winning NIL Deals 📸 

• Why Your Team Needs A Mentors’ Trip 🛫 

• A Must-Pitch Content Piece For The Phone Category 🤳 

🏊️ DEEP DIVE
Are Sports Teams Approaching NIL Correctly?

Since 2021, utilizing college athletes’ name, image, and likeliness feels like it’s often talked about, but rarely activated among sports teams.

It’s still in its infancy and even in conversations I’ve had over the last few years, there’s not enough comfort with it to have become more standard practice in the industry.

To break down those metaphorical walls of the NIL space, I reached out to Samantha Green, who is on the front lines, teaching athletes how to leverage content creation, navigate the complexities of NIL deals, and secure brand partnerships that resonate with their personal goals and values.

In our conversation, we uncover the immense value athletes bring to brands, and how both parties can forge more meaningful, impactful collaborations.

Plus, get insider tips on the evolving landscape of athlete compensation and real-world success stories that prove athletes don't need a million followers to make a mark.

Note: Questions and answers have been lightly edited for length and clarity.

ALEX: Can you briefly explain what you're working on now?

SAM: I teach athletes how to build a brand that will outlive their playing career in under two hours. I do it in numerous ways. Traveling from university to university, or just virtually, building a community with athletes, and helping them pick out what it is that they actually want to do once they graduate, especially if they're not going to the professional level. I teach them how to leverage content creation, NIL, and brand deals to start building it now before they graduate. 

ALEX: Where do the athletes you work with need the most help?

SAM: Getting started. They need the scale. They need to learn how to literally create content because that's what 70% of these deals are.

Then it's the confidence in getting started and being willing to put yourself out there and look like you can do this too.

I had an athlete with 4000 followers land Quest Nutrition just because she kept putting herself out there and was willing to do the hard work.

You don't have to be a Division One football player for brands to fall into your lap. It might take you a little bit more work, but you can absolutely build anything that you want to. A lot of my days are answering technical questions or getting them started, but a lot of it also is just pumping them up.

ALEX: Why should brands and teams want to dive into the NIL world?

SAM: Athletes come with a built-in fan base. A lot of brands are complaining that athletes don't create the best content, which is one of my goals to change that and make them just as good as a normal content creator. But be patient with them. They have a bazillion things going on.

The one thing that these athletes come with is their name on a roster. If they come with thousands of fans, even if they don't have a million followers, there's a die-hard community supporting them that brands can tap into immediately just by connecting with the athlete.

ALEX: While athletes need to get better at creating content, what do brands and teams need to do better?

SAM: The brands that succeed are the ones that are finding athletes who care about their product, their story, or their mission.

It's finding the right athletes and investing in them. Take the call with them, get to know them, figure out who they are, work with them, and try and work with them longer term if it's a good fit. Don't just do a one-and-done transactional deal.

I think the ones that are seeing the success are even taking a few meetings before ever even discussing a physical tangible deliverable for the brand.

ALEX: Is there an NIL payment structure that works best or an industry standard?

SAM: It’s very difficult because as much as I want to say, pay these athletes, I'm not naive to a lot of these companies are startups and there is no marketing budget.

That's ok, but that's why I say buy into the athlete if you don't have money. If they believe in you and your purpose, then they're going to be willing to work alongside you.

ALEX: What do teams and brands need to do, if anything, before they get started with NIL deals?

SAM: It's just as easy as getting started.

The number one step I would take is researching athletes. You can get on marketplaces like Postgame, MOGL, and Icon Source where you can see a roster of athletes who are interested in working with brands and do your homework to align with the athletes.

Do you want ones that are better on the field? Do you want ones that create good content? Do you want ones that already post about products similar to yours? Figure out what you're going to ask of the athletes before just diving in because the more prepared you are the better execution you're going to get out of the space.

Check-in on which athletes you want and then check over compliance. Don't expect the athlete to know all the NIL rules at their school with compliance. As a company, you want to cover your own butt and not get the athlete in trouble either by demanding too much from a compliance standpoint. 

ALEX: When you work with athletes, what are they telling you that they want out of a brand deal?

SAM: It’s that value-add side. Do they align with my goals? Do they align with my values?

That's what a lot of brands and even schools aren't understanding.

If you find and match the right athlete with the right brand, they're not stuck up and looking for a million dollars, they're looking for something they believe in.

Where you get the athletes fighting for more money is when they don't care about the brand because they're not being genuine to their audience.

You'd even be surprised by the athletes who normally charge $10,000 a post that would do stuff for free simply because it's a brand that they love. 

It's just that part that is harder because who's managing that? Who's matching these athletes? That's what a lot of these marketplaces are trying to do, but at scale, and it's extremely hard to ensure all that.

ALEX: Are there any other myths about NIL that you see come up a lot? 

SAM: The ‘NIL isn't for me’ or ‘the NIL isn't for anyone that's not the top 1%’.

I've seen track and field athletes who barely even have records listed, but, they're the ones making the most money in the industry because they bought the most into building a brand, the content creation, and figuring out that side.

ALEX: Which athletes do you think are doing great work in this space?

SAM: Mitchell Pehlke - He graduated but he's living proof. He YouTubed, he vlogged, he did everything possible while he was playing and now he doesn't have to work at 9 to 5. He runs his own lacrosse camps because of the brand that he built.

Anna Camden - She transferred schools. It was her last year. She tore her ACL, had a huge following, all these brand deals, and was looking forward to expanding her audience by transferring but still learned how to build that brand even while injured and tapped into different brands and different types of content and didn't let it stop her.

Emily Cole - A track athlete who has launched a merch line, a book, and a podcast. She's done a good job of building out a total brand that's turned into a business.

Alex Glover - She was a volleyball player out of SMU but completely self-built and has done things like, Meta flying her to the Super Bowl to speak on a panel in front of people. She’s turned her content into a public speaking platform which is super impressive.

ALEX: With athlete-driven podcasts popping up seemingly everywhere, are your clients asking about launching ones of their own? What content types are you guiding them towards?

SAM: Athletes probably ask every day, should I start a podcast? My number one answer is, ‘do you want to do this after you graduate too?’ If the answer is no, then I tell them not to waste their time.

It's a good idea because you can turn it into short-form content too, but if you're not passionate about creating it, don't do it just because you think that it can make you money or because people care about it.

What's working well is content series. It's something that you can repeat and because it eases the athlete’s mind, you know what you're waking up and creating every day, and it doesn't have to be the only thing you're creating.

Having something to repeat also allows your audience to know what to come back to your page for.

Alex Glover, who I mentioned earlier, stayed steady on day-in-the-life content that now, even post-graduation, she changed it from a day in the life of a division one athlete to a day in the life of a washed-up division one athlete. It's pulled her brand all the way through and she's gotten sponsorship after sponsorship.

It's really about tapping into what content you actually care to create and just continuing to do it.

💼 CASE STUDY
Sponsored Content of the Week

Shortly after joining Madison Square Garden in 2022, I learned about the New York Rangers' Parents Trip tradition. Each season alternates between dads and moms joining their sons on a road trip.

This initiative not only lets players share their dream careers with their parents, but it's also perfectly designed for success in terms of content and partnerships.

• The social media strategy is brimming with behind-the-scenes content, offering a chance to spotlight genuine moments and emotional connections that resonate well across platforms.

• This content allows fans to delve deeper into players' lives by exploring their family dynamics, making it a standout feature amidst the regular season's routine, especially for sponsored content.

Last week, the Vancouver Canucks put their spin on it, introducing the Mentors’ Trip, sponsored by Michelob Ultra.

Recognizing that families come in various forms, this platform celebrates mentors, broadening the scope of who can accompany the players. Regardless of their choice, each pair shares a significant bond and compelling stories.

Highlights from this trip included:

• Arshdeep Bains made his NHL debut during the trip against the Colorado Avalanche, with his dad, Kuldip, watching live (garnering 1.3M Instagram views). Both father and son cherished the experience.

• A Michelob ULTRA staple (e.g., #ULTRADrip) was utilized by the Canucks, giving the dads a taste of the limelight.

• The Canucks engaged with the dads before and during the games, sharing stories about their sons.

The content was shared across social channels and featured on their website, with the Mentors’ Trip x Michelob ULTRA logo adapted for various platforms and content types.

The Takeaway
Mentors’ Trip is a concept every team should embrace. It's not just a wonderful gesture for the players and their mentors; it generates fantastic content for the team, its partners, and, most importantly, the fans.

🔍 SPONCONSPIRATION
Steal These Ideas

These were my top three favorite sponsored content series names from MLS’ opening week.

Mercedes F1 team continues to create killer sponcon from their livery reveal. Last weekend they shared a step-by-step guide on how they painted their 2024 car presented by Sherwin Williams.

Cool to see how the Milwaukee Bucks created a content series for Red Bull that also seamlessly shows off their top-of-backboard sponsorship.

This interview style from Bleacher Report is a great opportunity for the mobile phone category, highlighting the quality of the front and rear-facing cameras.

Another outstanding edit from Aston Martin F1 who nailed this Hugo Boss kit reveal.

🚨 ICYMI
What To Watch For

Wings Welcome: Throughout 2024, parents departing participating birth centers will receive a swaddle blanket on behalf of the Detroit Red Wings, MESP, and Trinity Health Michigan. For a chance to receive MESP’s $529 contribution toward a new college savings fund, parents can take a photo of their newborn swaddled in the blanket and tag @DetroitRedWings on X or Instagram with #wingswelcome and #mesp.

Ready Player One: Southampton F.C. launched a new online game in partnership with their Official Sleeve Partner, Mairon Freight, giving fans the chance to win prizes, starting with a framed, signed shirt.

International Student NIL Deals: While we’re talking about NIL, Stephen ojo’s newsletter, Business of Afrosports, is a must-read to understand the rules around partnerships with international student-athletes.

Stat of the Week: TikTok is encouraging users to post photos, which they claim, compared to videos, can get: 2.9x more comments 1.9x more likes 2.6x more shares [h/t Lia Haberman]

Survey Says: Love this email personalization from the Carolina Hurricanes. Ahead of sports gambling legalization in North Carolina, they asked fans if they wanted to receive offers from Fanatics Sportsbook. The email portion of the form was already filled out upon delivery [h/t Neil Horowitz].