IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa Athletics Department announced today it has created the Iowa Hawkeyes NIL Marketplace. The Opendorse-powered marketplace will maximize NIL support for Iowa student-athletes.
This platform allows supporters to access student-athletes and offer NIL opportunities. The marketplace gives Iowa fans, brands, and sponsors the ability to browse, book, pitch and pay any Hawkeye student-athletes for NIL activities in one compliant platform, built specifically for the athletes’ needs.
All current Iowa student-athletes have access to create a custom page in the Iowa Hawkeyes NIL Marketplace. In addition, former Iowa athletes who use Opendorse can also be accessed through the marketplace.
“Educating our student-athletes on NIL and expanding their opportunities remains a high priority within our department. With the addition of the Iowa Hawkeye NIL Marketplace, all our student-athletes have the option to explore NIL partnerships and benefit from those relationships. Whether it is the Iowa Hawkeye NIL Marketplace or the Swarm Collective, I encourage our contributors to explore opportunities that support our student-athletes NIL endeavors.”
Gary Barta, Henry B. and Patricia B. Tippie Director of Athletics Chair
Through the Iowa Hawkeyes NIL Marketplace, every Iowa athlete will receive an Opendorse profile, which they can customize and promote to fans on their personal social media channels. When offered a NIL deal, athletes receive a notification through the Opendorse app, where they can choose to accept and complete the opportunity. Once completed, the student-athlete immediately receives compensation to their account.
“Iowa’s commitment to empowering student-athletes at every step during their career is what makes the Hawkeyes stand out. Today's launch of its NIL marketplace is the next step to maximizing opportunities for every athlete. Now every Hawkeye fan and alumni can find, pitch and support every Iowa student-athlete with one proven platform.”
Blake Lawrence, Opendorse CEO
The Opendorse marketplace is built on a decade of athlete marketing technology and experience. Opendorse has facilitated hundreds of thousands of NIL deals and endorsements with athletes at all levels of sports. The Opendorse marketplace is used by over 100,000 athletes to manage deals from pitch to payment, and even tax preparation.
In addition to the marketplace, UI Athletics continues to support student-athletes in several other areas, with the Hawkeye Flight NIL program. The FLIGHT programming provides student-athletes the opportunity to understand their name, image, and likeness rights, receive training, and provide resourced to enhance their NIL potential.
The Swarm Collective provides opportunities for Hawkeye fans to directly support student-athletes in women’s basketball, men’s basketball and football to benefit from their name, image, and likeness by participating in events that serve and raise funds for local charities and non-profits. The Swarm, Inc. allows Hawkeye student-athletes, regardless of sport, the opportunity to partner with organizations who may want to leverage NIL opportunities.
Opendorse, the NIL company, is the leading technology provider in the athlete endorsement industry. More than 100,000 athletes use Opendorse to understand, build, and monetize their name, image, and likeness (NIL) with support from thousands of brands, fans, sponsors, donors and partners including Team USA, PGA TOUR, NFLPA, MLBPA, WNBPA, LPGA, over 100 professional and collegiate sports teams.