How Altius assisted Powerade in entering NIL space

For all the progress NIL has made in its first 21 months, there’s always more room for education.

Ahead of last month’s NCAA tournaments, Altius Sports Partners helped educate Powerade on what the name, image and likeness landscape looks like. While some brands have been extremely active in the space, others have been hesitant to spend marketing dollars on a somewhat undeveloped space.

A Coca-Cola Company, Powerade signed NIL deals with 37 men’s and women’s college basketball players. The sports drink has been an NCAA sponsor since 2010. Ja Morant was set to star in the brand’s March Madness commercial before he was pulled from the campaign

Altius caught the brand up on NCAA policy, school rules and state laws surrounding NIL. It also broke down what a brand should look for in college athletes when it comes to NIL.

“What we did with them is said, ‘Ok, here’s how you can objectively assess the ROI of all these different athletes,” Altius CEO Casey Schwab told On3. “They selected. Then we helped them get to the athletes and passed along the information.”

Already established at more than 30 schools and nearly half of the Power Five, the advising firm typically provides assistance on a case-by-case basis. If the athletic department is working on a major NIL initiative, ASP could be sitting in meetings and providing feedback. With its general manager program, Altius is constantly conversing with athletes on education and what to look for in an NIL deal.

The same goes for brands who are considering NIL partnerships. While Altius will not facilitate the deal, Schwab’s team can bring a company up to speed on how to effectively create an NIL campaign. With more and more athletes having a strong understanding of how to monetize their publicity rights, it’s now the brands that need a quick tutorial.

Powerade crafted deals with athletes from across Division I basketball landscaping, partnering with notable Power 5 players. The focus was not only on striking agreements with the most followed athletes, however, with a wide range of names providing access to different markets.

As part of each agreement, athletes were asked to promote Powerade on Instagram. Each caption included messaging aimed at competition, stating the energy drink has 50% more electrolytes compared to Gatorade.

Full list of Powerade athletes

Here is the full list of athletes who participated in Powerade’s NIL campaign:

School	Athlete
Arizona State	Luther Muhammed (MBB)
Boise State	Chibuzo Agbo (MBB)
Boston College	Prince Aligbe (MBB)
BYU	Jaxson Robinson (MBB)
Colorado State	Cailyn Crocker (WBB)
Florida State	Ta’Niya Latson (WBB)
LSU	Flau’Jae Johnson (WBB)
Rice	Quincy Olivari (MBB)
Texas State	Nicole Leff (WBB)
UConn	Aubrey Griffin (WBB)
UMass	Sam Breen (WBB)
Arizona	Lauren Ware (WBB)
Georgia	Chloe Chapman (WBB)
Iowa	Kate Martin (WBB)
Minnesota	Dawson Garcia (MBB)
South Florida	Caitlin McGee (WBB)
USC	Destiny Littleton (WBB)
Toledo	Rayj Dennis (MBB)
Houston	Jarace Walker (MBB)
Maryland Eastern Shore	Kohen Thompson (MBB)
Southern University and A&M	Brion Whitley (MBB)
Alcorn State	Jeremiah Kendall (MBB)
Indiana	Sydney Parrish (WBB)
Tennessee	Tess Darby (WBB)
Notre Dame	Sonia Citron (WBB)
North Carolina	Kennedy Todd Williams (WBB)
Oklahoma	Ana Llanusa (WBB)
South Carolina	Brea Beal (WBB)
Villanova	Maddy Siegrist (WBB)
Stanford	Hannah Jump (WBB)
Alabama	Hannah Barber (WBB)
Texas	Tyrese Hunter (MBB)