On July 1st, 2021, the NCAA approved an interim name, image, and likeness (NIL), allowing all NCAA D1, D2, and D3 student-athletes to be compensated for their NIL, opening the floodgates to a brand-new era of athlete marketing and brand recognition for these athletes. Prior to the policy change, stringent rules were in place that made it nearly impossible for NCAA athletes to profit off of their status as a college athlete, a notorious example being the 2017 case of former UCF kicker Donald De Le Haye, who was stripped of his athletic scholarship and potential NFL career after the NCAA claimed his monetized YouTube channel, Deestroying, was in violation of these prior rules. Given the NIL opportunities college athletes have now however, it is not farfetched to say that Donald would be proud.
With the new NIL policy in effect, college athletes are now enabled to gain endorsement deals, become monetized content creators, make merchandise/official jerseys, start a business, create/profit off a summer youth sports camp, sign into marketing/representation contracts with sports agencies, and even make history by starring in a nationally aired commercial with NBA Superstar Lebron James (Bronny James) or by being the first college athletes to empower their audiences by modeling for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition magazine (Livvy Dunne and Angel Reese).
But college athletes are not the only category that benefits from NIL, with businesses both small and large benefitting due to the creative ways they can form partnerships with these athletes as micro-influencers. While this is exciting, there are many questions that a brand might have in this new space. “What is the best way to utilize these athletes?” “In what ways can they help us maximize engagement?” “What regulations are there with college athlete marketing?” “How do we go about marketing with an athlete that has 1000 followers? 5000 followers? 25000 followers?”
These questions are why I founded Did It! Sports during my freshman year at Pitt.
Did It! Sports is a Pittsburgh-based sports marketing and creative agency, with a goal of establishing meaningful partnerships between college athletes (particularly Pitt athletes) and brands who are eager to work with them. The idea came to me during my freshman year when I realized that I should not wait to actively work towards my professional goals in a competitive industry (to attain a JD after undergrad and work as a sports agent/attorney). After seeing that I could assist athletes with endorsements and marketing endeavors through NIL, Did It! Sports was created as a not only a business, but also as a passion project that has been awesome to work on over this year.
At Did It! Sports, I act as a middleman between the athlete(s) I am working with and brands to guide them both through the process of an NIL campaign. I assist with the logistics of creating the campaign which includes details like what the athlete will be doing for a brand, what the athlete will receive in exchange for this service, and for how long an athlete will be doing said service for a brand. Often these campaigns come in the form of social media content creation, in which Did It! Sports handles the logistics and curation of said content in a way that will bolster the success of the campaign.
Being a student entrepreneur, I have been able to connect with some awesome people since the creation of Did It! Sports while working in an industry I am passionate about. It allows me to be creative and really think out-of-the-box more often than I have before which is another perk of the job. However, learning how to work with these athletes and get hands-on experience with the marketing side of sports is without a doubt my favorite part of the job. The lessons I have learned so far running the agency have been essential for my professional growth as a sports marketing agent, which I will take with me as I continue to pursue a career in representing athletes.
The most pivotal lesson I have learned in this process is the importance of one word: service. In the space of athlete representation, there are some people whose primary motivation when wanting to represent (primarily professional level) athletes is money. Although representing athletes at that level could provide a very lucrative career for some, often people with this mindset let money drive their decision making when representing athletes, which does not consider what is TRULY BEST for the athlete.
That is where service comes into play. When you are representing an athlete, it is pivotal to keep their best interest in mind, even if that means letting go of a lucrative opportunity in exchange for what is best for your athletes’ playing/marketing future. In my case, where I am working with college athletes, this is more important then ever, as many college players do not see true success at a major-league, professional level for their sport. So, as a marketing representative for these athletes, you should be using that attention that they gain during their college years to establish a future for them outside of playing sports professionally. The service you bring to an athlete needs to be specially catered to their needs and goals, however the core service principles that make you a good rep for the athlete are the same service principles a good accountant brings to their corporate clients, and even the ones that a good waitress brings to her hungry customers. While the service principles are the same, the end goal is different.
I am very excited for the near future of Did It! Sports. As I approach and prepare for my sophomore year here at Pitt, it will be a big and exciting time for Did It! Sports and our campaigns that are coming through the pipeline. If you would like to keep up-to-date with everything we’re doing, I encourage you to follow Did It! Sports' Instagram page. Although at the time of writing this there is not much on it, we have some pieces of content lined up for it soon that I am excited for you to see. Also, if you would like to reach out to me personally, I would love to connect with you! My LinkedIn will be at the bottom of this blog post -- shoot me a connection request with a note and I will be sure to respond!
I will finish this blog post by saying this: if you are someone who has an idea for a business but is skeptical or nervous about bringing it to reality, take some advice from Nike and “Just Do It!”. When starting Did It! Sports, I had no idea where I would end up months into the process. While continuing to run Did it! Sports, I still have no idea where it’s going to lead me in the next 6 months, or year, or 5 years, but the process up to this point has 100% been worth it thus far. Take that leap and make that business -- with the resources Pitt provides (such as the Big Idea Center), this time is the one of the best times to build that idea.
Hail to Pitt!
Connect with Jamie on LinkedIn