MU Athletics partners with an agency to build athletes’ personal brand
COLUMBIA, Mo (KMIZ)
Mizzou Athletics said it is partnering with an agency to grow a name, image, likeness program for athletes to develop their own, personal brands.
MU said it will partner with Opendorse in it's brand cultivation program, TradeMark.
The company works with more than 26,000 athletes around the world, including Patrick Mahomes, Tiger Woods and Alex Morgan.
“The core tenants of this trademark program are educating student athletes on the power of their voice and the power of their platform,” Opendorse CEO Blake Lawrence said in an exclusive interview. “In todays society, what athletes say, what anybody says online and how they represent themselves, has a tremendous impact on their opportunities for the rest of their life.”
Missouri will join Nebraska, Clemson, Indiana, BYU, Louisville and Wake Forest in the TradeMark program. However, it will be the first SEC instutituion to join the OpenDorse ready program.
“When you come and play at Mizzou, you’re allowed to build your own brand and set yourself up for life,” Mizzou football coach Eli Drinkwitz said in a press release. “Our hope is that players can build their personal brand and set themselves up for a tremendous future by coming to Mizzou and representing the great state of Missouri.”
Lawrence said Mizzou was just about the perfect place to start in the SEC.
“Athletics, the journalism school, our platform at Opendorse, I think puts Missouri in a unique position,” Lawrence said. "To be the first in the SEC with an NIL brand building solution for student-athletes, as well as the longest term agreement that we’ve signed with any athletic department across the country...every student-athlete that chooses Mizzou has support through their entire experience.”
Opendorse said it's involvement with the program focuses on three main points: education, assessments, and performance.
When the name, image, and likeness rules change in August 2021, student-athletes will be equipped with their own, personal brand and social media presence.
“Mizzou to me means a lot. I’m a Kansas City kid, I grew up in the Midwest and Missouri offered me my first scholarship to play college football,” Lawrence said. “I’ll never forget that, and so the thought that I could come back around and help a school that really helped me so much, it means a lot to me personally.”
