Adidas Announces NIL Network To Give Over 50,000 Student-Athletes The Opportunity To Become Ambassadors

Source: Adidas

Adidas announced the launch of its new NIL network for student-athletes. As the first major sports apparel brand to launch a NIL network, Adidas will give over 50,000 student-athletes at 109 Adidas-sponsored schools across 23 D1 sports the opportunity to become paid affiliate Adidas brand ambassadors. In addition to affiliate earnings, some athletes will be offered "elevated opportunities at a brand partnership and entrepreneurial level."

The network is part of its mission to create a more equitable and inclusive future for sports. It will roll out in four phases this fall, beginning with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and the Power-5 Conference before expanding to all schools by April next year.

Adidas may be the first to launch this kind of network in the sports apparel market, but it won't be the last. We can expect other sports apparel brands like Nike and Under Armour and other companies to take similar steps. Nationwide NIL deals allow brands to quickly scale their student-athlete partnerships and get in front of the often hard-to-reach college demographic. At the same time, a more significant number of student-athletes can profit from their name, image, and likeness.

The NIL era is quickly approaching its one-year anniversary, and more brands are realizing the value of student-athletes as partners. Just in the last few weeks, dozens of brands have partnered with student-athletes to support March Madness.