USC Athletics | March 03, 2023

LOS ANGELES – Former USC women's track & field NCAA champion Lyndsey Lopes has been hired as the first full-time, on-campus General Manager of USC Athletics' name, image and likeness (NIL) program, it was announced today (March 3) by Altius Sports Partners (ASP). Lopes, who broke ground two years ago as NIL coordinator at UCLA, will lead her alma mater's NIL efforts. The ASP GM Program centralizes NIL support services as a standalone vertical within athletics departments.
 
"I am incredibly excited to assist USC in building a commanding and dynamic presence in the NIL space," Lopes said. "With my experience as a former collegiate athlete, I know firsthand the power in perspective and how important it is to have someone who can provide genuine advice and support during such an exciting time in collegiate athletics. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to empower all USC athletes to develop and amplify their personal brands to capitalize on their NIL."
 
In her new role, Lopes will oversee NIL programming and day-to-day operations that will help support athletes, coaches and staff maximize NIL opportunities. Additionally, she will lead the implementation of athlete-focused NIL education on marketing, personal branding and content creation strategies. USC has been a leader in the NIL landscape since it began almost two years ago, having developed some of the most creative yet compliant practices in a high-profile market to benefit its diverse population of student-athletes. Lopes' hire and the dedicated resources provided through this structure will bring USC's NIL program to the next level. 
 
"We are happy to have Lyndsey on board," said Brittney Whiteside, ASP VP of Collegiate Partnerships. "As we navigate the ever-evolving landscape of name, image and likeness in college athletics, I'm confident that Lyndsey's experience coupled with our expert guidance will help us chart a successful path forward at USC."
 
During her tenure as NIL coordinator at UCLA, Lopes recruited more than 200 brands, businesses, donors, alumni and fans to the school's NIL marketplace. Previously, she served as digital media associate at TOGETHXR, a female-led media and commerce venture founded by Sue Bird, Chloe Kim, Simone Manuel and Alex Morgan. She directed and constructed docuseries and promotional content surrounding professional athletes and produced and designed content distributed across all social media platforms. Other stops in her rising career include serving with the Black Alumni Association of USC, where she collaborated with various alumni and foundations to endorse culture and diversity at the university and managed social media accounts to promote community among Black alumni.
 
"We are thrilled to announce Lyndsey Lopes as our first NIL General Manager," USC Athletic Director Mike Bohn said. "Lyndsey will play a leading role in elevating our NIL program and providing unparalleled support and resources to our student-athletes, coaches, staff and the Trojan community. Her success as an elite athlete and USC national champion, paired with her brand experience and NIL acumen, make her a tremendous fit for this critical role. While the NIL landscape continues to evolve, we remain unequivocally focused on our vision to be the most student-athlete centered program. It's an honor to welcome Lyndsey back to campus in this new capacity!"
 
The ASP GM program includes education for all stakeholders and a customized approach for each department in directly navigating the shifting environment. Ten Power 5 schools are the first to participate and have integrated full-time trained ASP personnel on campus. ASP hires, onboards, supports and manages the NIL GM placed to further comprehensive NIL efforts that ensure athletes have the tools and resources to maximize their opportunities.

A USC track & field captain, Lopes was a member of USC's 2018 NCAA Championship team, earned second team All-American honors and won Pac-12 titles in the high jump and heptathlon as a Trojan. Her off-the-field accomplishments are just as impressive. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Communication from USC and Master of Education in Sports Operations and Administration from Washington in five years, and was accepted into the Brown Girls Dream Mentoring Program, created by broadcaster Cari Champion.
 
As the environment moves toward schools increasing holistic NIL support services, there are numerous benefits from having personnel recruited, vetted, hired, trained and managed by ASP on campus, in collaboration with institutional partners. ASP personnel offer the benefit of understanding the national landscape and provide unrivaled experience in the areas of licensing, sponsorship, agents, employment, labor, collective bargaining, Title IX and other impending issues. 

Those interested in connecting with USC student-athletes on NIL opportunities may contact Lyndsey.Lopes@altiussp.com.
  
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About Altius Sports Partners
ASP is the leading advisor to elite collegiate athletics programs and sports properties offering strategic planning, compliance support and education to its clients. ASP provides strategic solutions on topics ranging from NIL to the shifting terrain of employment and media rights within college athletics. In three years, ASP has gone from launching with two school partners (LSU and Texas) to currently supporting 33 universities, including almost half of the Power Five. Last year ASP launched a first-of-its-kind on-campus, in-house NIL GM Program with top programs and scaled its blue-chip NIL advisory and education services through the launch of ASP Academy. ASP clients include Arizona, Arizona State, Auburn, Cincinnati, Clemson, Duke, Georgia, Georgetown, Indiana, Kansas, LSU, Marquette, Miami, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Nebraska, Nevada, Northwestern, North Alabama, North Carolina, Oakland, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oregon State, South Carolina, USC, Tennessee, Texas, Tulane, Villanova, Virginia, and Wisconsin. Additional strategic collaborations include Women Leaders in College Sports, the NFL and NFL Players Association. Providing all stakeholders with resources they need to thrive in the new age of college athletics, ASP leverages its deep reservoir of sports business sophistication to help those impacted to prepare and excel. It has built a team of cross-disciplinary leaders to reach higher levels of education, higher access to opportunities and higher standards of excellence.