Amazon launches NIL program with officially licensed apparel

Amazon is on the short list of companies that could be true disruptors in the NIL space. One of the world’s largest companies also boasts the most powerful marketplace. Putting officially licensed merchandise in front of the correct consumers would not take much effort.

The tech giant is putting that exact plan into action. Starting off with a test trial at USC, Amazon is enlisting student-athletes to promote merchandise through NIL deals. The company is aiming to reach college sports fans across the country with its newly school-licensed gear.

The Trojans are just a starting point, though. Amazon is positioned to quickly roll out similar programs at major known institutions throughout the rest of the fall. All the apparel is made by Mademark, which is a branch of Amazon Fashion.

Jeff Bezos and Amazon already have the infrastructure live on its website. With officially licensed college and NFL gear, “Campus Colors” features links to apparel from Alabama to Yale. Personalized player-centric gear will be loaded on school marketplaces as the program expands.

Rollout, infrastructure of Amazon’s NIL program

USC defensive back Latrell McCutchin and track star Bailey Lear were the first two to make the announcement on Instagram. McCutchin has his own T-shirt jersey with a USC logo and his name and jersey on the back. Lear was rocking a custom USC Track and Field shirt with her name also on the back.

Defensive end Korey Foreman is set to join the campaign, too.

Athletes are paid to post unique links to their social media channels and will have the opportunity to earn royalties. Student-athletes who opt in to the program will be paid four to five figures in compensation just to post content. Opendorse is overseeing the payments and making contact with athletes for Amazon.

Currently, on the USC apparel marketplace on Amazon, fans have access to hundreds of T-shirts, sweatshirts and tank tops with plenty of logos to choose from.

Auburn quarterback T.J. Finely and Clemson basketball player Brevin Galloway each launched personalized apparel brands with Amazon last month. Dreamfield, a NIL deal-making platform, worked with the tech company to broker the deals. Plans are in place for more athletes to launch apparel brands, too.

“They like to kind of stay off the radar and just kind of do what they want to do,” said Dreamfield’s external affairs director Corey Staniscia. “But obviously, they wanted to work with some pretty big-time athletes. That was clear by the athletes that they hired. They didn’t want to just work with low-follower-count athletes. They want to work with pretty prominent individuals.”

Amazon gunning for Fanatics

For as big of a disruptor Amazon proves to be in the NIL space, the company is primed to compete with Fanatics in the merchandise space.

Fanatics recently announced a long-term partnership with Alabama to open the first-ever team store in Bryant-Denny Stadium. The store will have gear from officially licensed outlets like Nike and Topps, as well as student-athlete NIL merchandise.

That is something Amazon can counter, though. The company can market their NFL merchandise on NFL Thursday Night Football this fall, which will be exclusively on Amazon Prime Video. And in the Big Ten’s TV contract announcement, commissioner Kevin Warren kept the door open for the conference’s games to stream one day on Amazon.

While Fanatics is no doubt ahead in the sports merchandise game, Amazon has the organizational structure to immediately compete thanks to its distribution centers across the country. Nearly 200 million people visit Amazon each month.

What this means for NIL

NIL is a young, immature industry. When the NCAA decided to adopt interim guidelines last summer, institutions and major brands were not ready to cash in. That has now changed.

Come this fall on the West Coast, Pac-12 football players will be utilizing a new way to monetize their NIL. Athletes will be able to share their personal video highlights on Twitter postgame and receive income for their performance on the field.

Amazon can now join the list of next-level thinking in the NIL space. The company has quietly been ramping up to this level for months. With the college football season around the corner, it is positioned to cash in.