Thoughts on NIL Contributions?

[jakeboldenbrp]

I need some help/advice/market research from those of you on GoMiddle.

I have reached out to the Athletic Department (De Leon to be exact) about potentially doing some branding with select few student-athletes and creating an online store for people to buy merchandise to support those athletes. Don't get me wrong "Athlete Threads" (AT, the current NIL Store on goblueraiders.com) does a good enough job. Where my head is at is partnering with these top athletes to design clothing, accessories, etc. with their own personal touch. Something they can get behind and promote themselves other than the copy paste designs of AT. I've discussed with Lee about how, I could pass the idea off to local businesses to sort out online store fronts, warehousing, shipping, etc. in the event that it takes off beyond what I'd do to show it can be successful.

In short, my plan is to partner with a few players from an array of sports, design, produce, and sell merchandise and the entirety of the profits goes to the player(s). Would you, the biggest fans, find a NIL store designed by players appealing? I really think this has potential.

 

[Brew_Raider]

I need some help/advice/market research from those of you on GoMiddle.

I have reached out to the Athletic Department (De Leon to be exact) about potentially doing some branding with select few student-athletes and creating an online store for people to buy merchandise to support those athletes. Don't get me wrong "Athlete Threads" (AT, the current NIL Store on goblueraiders.com) does a good enough job. Where my head is at is partnering with these top athletes to design clothing, accessories, etc. with their own personal touch. Something they can get behind and promote themselves other than the copy paste designs of AT. I've discussed with Lee about how, I could pass the idea off to local businesses to sort out online store fronts, warehousing, shipping, etc. in the event that it takes off beyond what I'd do to show it can be successful.

In short, my plan is to partner with a few players from an array of sports, design, produce, and sell merchandise and the entirety of the profits goes to the player(s). Would you, the biggest fans, find a NIL store designed by players appealing? I really think this has potential.

I would venture to guess that the majority of the posters on this board are outside the target demographic for products designed by our 18-23 yrs old athletes. Some would buy to support the players, but not enough to make a dent.

My suggestion would be to market research the MT students with the largest online following on TikTok, Instagram, etc. Try to get free product in the hands of these influencers for a review. Link to your store in there bio.

Maybe there is a MT alum with a huge following on social media you could get to market an athlete designed product for you.

IMO, you will get more support/sales from an influencer wearing it or saying something nice about it versus just marketing it as a MT athlete designed product. If the right person markets it, you might have something get enough to really make a difference.

Good luck.

 

[jakeboldenbrp]

I would venture to guess that the majority of the posters on this board are outside the target demographic for products designed by our 18-23 yrs old athletes. Some would buy to support the players, but not enough to make a dent.

My suggestion would be to market research the MT students with the largest online following on TikTok, Instagram, etc. Try to get free product in the hands of these influencers for a review. Link to your store in there bio.

Maybe there is a MT alum with a huge following on social media you could get to market an athlete designed product for you.

IMO, you will get more support/sales from an influencer wearing it or saying something nice about it versus just marketing it as a MT athlete designed product. If the right person markets it, you might have something get enough to really make a difference.

Good luck.

Excellent advice.

I guess the help I’d get here is something different from the copy and paste stuff AT produces. I’d agree merchandising would be more towards the younger demographic, but I believe higher quality apparel would be a selling point/benefit to joining the NIL which is currently a steep asking price $1k/year.

If you already give money to the BRAA, I don’t know how you make room in your middle class budget (the majority of us). I’d want something in return, just my opinion. If that was/is the case, would something more unique be more appealing?