The Oregon Ducks have long been trendsetters in college sports. Soon, they’ll have their own marketplace to match student-athletes with potential NIL deals.
Student-athletes at the University of Oregon are about to have their very own official marketplace for potential name, image, and likeness deals.
Opendorse and Division Street announced a partnership on Thursday that will create the first curated NIL marketplace of its kind made specifically for the Ducks.
Opendorse, which currently works with more than 50,000 college athletes on marketing their NIL rights, will power the marketplace, helping athletes and brands connect on everything from autograph signings to social media content and more.
“Oregon athletics has become a beacon of innovation” Opendorse CEO Blake Lawrence told Boardroom. “And so while they are the first to have an official NIL marketplace, through this relationship with Division Street, they’re certainly not going to be the last.”
Liberty guard and Division Street Chief Athlete Officer Sabrina Ionescu said she is excited to see the two sides partner up.
“It’s very exciting to see that Oregon athletes are fully supported by two power teams that are supercharging NIL with real-world brand-building experiences while also keeping the athletes’ voices heard throughout the experience,” she told Boardroom.
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Division Street launched in September to help Oregon athletes navigate NIL rules and keep compliance top-of-mind while growing their personal brands, with New York Liberty star and Ducks basketball alum Sabrina Ionescu serving as its inaugural Chief Athlete Officer. Lawrence added that he was interested in Opendorse partnering with a company that was athlete-focused and wanting to do whatever it could to help maximize a player’s earning potential.
Division Street turned out to be the perfect candidate.
“Division Street’s goal is to deliver elevated opportunities for all athletes across sport and gender,” Division Street CEO Rosemary St. Clair said in a release. “We’re built to serve student-athletes, so leveraging the Opendorse platform to simplify the NIL experience for Oregon was a natural step.”
The marketplace, which will be live at oregon.opendorse.com, is slated to launch in the first quarter of 2022, according to an official release. Until then, Division Street will use Opendorse’s available platform to help streamline connections between players and potential partners.
As Opendorse and Division Street both make clear, this is a partnership that is designed to help all athletes at Oregon, not just those in revenue sports. Lawrence told Boardroom that Opendorse has worked with universities where as many as 75% of the athletes on campus have signed at least one NIL deal.
Everyone from the quarterback to the utility softball player will be able to benefit.
“This is an incredibly useful platform for Oregon athletes,” said Oregon volleyball player Gloria Mutiri in the release. “Opendorse gives us one app to access all-things NIL.”
