Opendorse is changing the way fans and companies can interact with athletes.
In June, the company announced plans to create personalized marketplaces for upwards of 75 colleges and universities across the nation. On Monday, Opendorse announced a new user-interface showcasing their accessibility to all athletes within the NIL marketplace.
This move for the Nebraska based company makes them the first in the NIL space to provide an open-facing approach to athletes.
“This is the premium marketplace experience that athletes and the NIL market deserve,” Opendorse CEO Blake Lawrence said in a press release.
According to Opendorse’s latest data running through May 31, the average compensation for a Division-I athlete was $3,711. For lower tiers in Division-II and III, there was a significant dip down to $204 and $309 respectively.
Additionally, data found in year 1 of the NIL era, only 4% of deals came via fans working with athletes. Now with Opendorse’s latest advancement, the goal is to bolster those numbers.
“Fans have been eager to support their favorite student-athletes through NIL activities like video shoutouts for their children, or autographs for memorabilia collections and more – but they don’t know where to start,” Lawrence said. “Now, any fan with a credit card can request and pay an athlete for any activity in just a few seconds. It’s as easy as booking a stay on Airbnb or ordering a deal on Doordash.”
Opendorse plans to work alongside partner institutions to initiate, track and monitor NIL deals, allowing for easy use for athletic departments. All payments to players will be transacted via credit card.
Opendorse was founded in 2012, and according to their website has supported over 80,000 athletes across over 2,000 sports organizations. They’re partnered with major sports leagues such as the NHL, PGA Tour, agencies like Roc Nation and multiple players unions including the NFL, NBA, WNBA and US Women’s National team.
