Breaking Down Adidas' Genius NIL Stunt + Doug Edert
Breaking Down Adidas' Genius NIL Stunt + Doug Edert
The Money Behind Doug Edert and also the nationwide NIL deal run by Adidas.
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Adidas recently came out with one of the smartest marketing campaigns to date.
Their new NIL program allows college athletes to be brand ambassadors at universities sponsored by Adidas.
Eligible athletes have the opportunity to earn a percentage of the sales they drive to the Adidas website and app, as well as be paid per social media post.
The rollout will start with historically black colleges and Power 5 schools in the fall.
Adidas is the first major sports brand to offer this deal, which could include more than 50,000 college athletes at the 109 schools the company sponsors.
The brand is doing this to mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX and its efforts to create a more equitable future in sports.
Big Time Profits?
Imagine if every athlete sold just one pair of Adidas shoes through the affiliate link how much money would go around?
Here’s a quick breakdown:
The median price of an Adidas sneaker is $70, according to Statista.
So if every college athlete at an Adidas-sponsored school sells just one pair at the $70 median price it would result in….
$3,080,000 in additional revenue for Adidas.
And $420,000 paid out to college athletes or about $9 each.
At scale, this could be huge!
Let’s dig a little further 👇
The Money Behind It
Adidas hasn’t publicly released all of the details, but from my experience, I can make some fairly accurate predictions.
Athletes will receive a commission on everything sold through their links. They are essentially serving as an affiliate.
7% is standard for Adidas, but I’m assuming they’ll ramp it up for this program.
They want to get athletes to take action so I would say Adidas will be fine with lower margins and providing a 12% commission.
Here’s another example:
St. Peter’s guard Doug Edert puts the Adidas link in his Instagram bio following another big upset win in the NCAA tournament.
Thousands of people visit the link and one hundred of them buy a St. Peter’s Adidas hoodie listed at $55.
100 sweatshirts sold x $55 = $5,550
Doug receives $660 ($5550 x 12%).
Adidas gets an additional $4,900 in revenue ($5550-$660).
Pretty fair tradeoff — as Doug is making passive income and Adidas is growing its brand.
But is this a lucrative deal for most college athletes?
It’s hard to know right now, but I would say 97% of college athletes will make very little money with this program — that’s why Adidas is trying it out with Power 5 schools to see if it even has legs.
More Brands Will Join
This NIL campaign by Adidas forces the hand of Nike, Under Armour, and other major companies that have college sports partnerships.
I would expect all of them to roll out similar campaigns in the near future.
Why?
Because it will be a major disadvantage if they don’t.
Think about it this way, a high school athlete going through the recruiting process can choose between the University of Kansas (Adidas) or Kansas State University (Nike).
All things else equal — Kansas has a major edge over Kansas State because of its Adidas sponsorship and the ability for that athlete to make money.
Smart move by Adidas, other brands have no option but to roll out something similar.
It’s cool to see how each of the major apparel brands is handling NIL and the Web 3.0 world. Nike and Adidas are at the forefront currently.
Extra Credit:
Saint Peter's men’s basketball star Doug Edert has signed a NIL deal with Buffalo Wild Wings and also launched a clothing line with Barstool Sports.
He's come off the bench in both upset games combining for 33 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists.
Edert's endorsements are the most noteworthy developments of March Madness in the NIL era.
It’s unclear how much he’s made, but I would assume it’s over $10,000.
If they reach the Final Four, Doug might make 6 figures in under 3 weeks. Pretty cool!
While it’s great to see a mid-major player sign some NIL deals. Keep in mind, Doug is the outlier — none of his teammates haven’t gotten the same amount of love.
Edert and St. Peter’s will face the #3 seed Purdue Boilermakers in Philadelphia on Friday. Let’s see if they can keep the cinderella story alive.
Happy Friday and thanks for reading!
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Peace,
-AP