Case Study:
Clothing and Retail
NIL Ambassador Program
Six months into NIL (early 2022), global sports giant adidas was looking to engage college student-athletes at their sponsored universities to form meaningful and long-lasting partnerships. To help bring this to life, Postgame designed and launched the adidas NIL Ambassador Program from the ground up, powered by the NIL agency’s cutting-edge technology and extensive industry expertise, providing a robust framework for adidas to scale year-over-year. The result: one of the largest and most diverse NIL ambassador programs in history - tens of thousands of athlete participants - that is still growing!
The Challenge: Build a scalable student-athlete ambassador program that breaks through the NIL clutter
adidas wanted to pioneer NIL initiatives by creating a scalable ambassador program that rewarded college student-athletes at their sponsored schools for their participation, enabled these athletes to earn through affiliate marketing / content creation and ultimately identify standout content creators for additional sponsorship and elevated marketing opportunities in the future.The program required seamless onboarding, NIL education and payment processes to efficiently engage a vast roster of athletes across the country.
The Solution: A multi-faceted yet seamless partnership structure that utilized the Postgame App and underlying technology to scale at a historic rate
adidas turned to Postgame to build their ambassador program, which was unlike anything the industry had seen. The partnership structure included:
Athlete Recruitment & Onboarding:
Postgame’s platform automated recruitment and onboarding of tens of thousands of athletes, educating them on affiliate marketing and best practices for content and earning potential
Ongoing Athlete Support:
Weekly webinars with athletes covering marketing strategies, content ideas, and platform usage.
Exclusive promotions and discounts to help athletes maximize sales.
Seamless Payments:
Postgame’s tech streamlined commission payouts, integrating sales data from adidas’ affiliate management system.
On-Site Education:
Postgame has presented alongside adidas at NIL conferences and events across Power 5 and HBCU schools, including Texas A&M, Kansas, Texas Tech, Grambling State and Louisville.
YoY Expansion:
Year 1: Opened participation to athletes at Power 5 schools and HBCUs.
Year 2: Expanded program to all adidas-sponsored Division I schools, increasing participation by 50%.
Year 3: Expanded to ALL adidas sponsored schools - regardless of level - including Division I, Division II, III, increasing participation by XX%
The Result: A new standard for NIL brand partnerships
The adidas NIL Ambassador Program set a new standard for NIL initiatives, delivering exceptional outcomes including:
Tens of thousands of college student-athlete participants.
Elevated content marketing campaigns and commercial shoots featuring Patrick Mahomes and Candace Parker along with the Nebraska women’s volleyball team, Washington women’s soccer team and adidas retail partner Dick’s Sporting Goods.
Hundreds of athletes identified as standout content creators and provided elevated sponsorship opportunities.
15 “sponsored content” seasonal campaigns with hundreds of hand-picked athletes each year
10 per year gifting campaigns from a variety of adidas business units partnering with hundreds of athletes.
adidas’ vision for changing the NIL game perfectly mirrored Postgame’s approach, having a high volume of college athlete ambassadors that would allow a brand like adidas to speak authentically with their target audience at scale. Setting the pace for brand ambassador programs across the industry, Postgame’s collaboration with adidas is just getting started.
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