March Madness database makes it easy for brands and businesses to connect with players

Brands now have a seamless way to connect with college basketball players throughout March Madness.

FanWord, the athlete storytelling and branding company, today is launching its men’s and women’s NCAA tournament athlete directory. By creating these profiles of the players – more than 1,000 as of this morning – FanWord is striving to simplify how supporters (businesses, fans, etc.) can find athletes and help them see the various ways in which they can connect and collaborate with the athletes on NIL deals.

Each athlete profile includes an average of two to four links, which could include Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Opendorse, INFLCR Exchange and NIL Store. The profiles include follower counts for social media channels. 

“It is about the ability to conveniently browse through one page or one platform that curates specific athletes,” Chris Aumueller, CEO of FanWord, told On3. “It’s for businesses or for a fan to say, ‘I want to connect with player A, B or C with just one click. I can get to his profile, for instance, and then see all the different ways I can work with him.’ ”

The profiles are publicly accessible to everyone. There is no sign-up required.

+ Link to women’s tournament participants

+ Link to men’s tournament participants

Every athlete can claim their profile to further customize it and add more data, including NIL deals, interests, degrees, personalized content and more. Each profile has 12 data point categories.

Aumueller encourages athletes to think of their FanWord profile as their own website, one locale to curate everything about themselves. Athletes can include their profile link in their social media bios to give supporters a quick and easy way to instantly connect with them. And for those who excel during March Madness, it will help them minimize time and effort needed to begin capitalizing on their performances.

FanWord has researched data for all athletes and will continue to update profiles with more data throughout the tournament. Brands and fans also can contact athletes through FanWord as well. The company’s team filters inquiries and forwards credible ones to the athlete. 

“We want them [a company or a fan] to know there is one centralized location where you can go to look up where and how you can connect with that athlete,” Aumueller said, “because some schools have an Opendorse marketplace, some have an INFLCR marketplace, some use MOGL, and some athletes aren’t on any marketplace. We just want to take that and simplify that for the brand.”