Wake Forest Athletics
STRIDE
Wake Forest Athletics announced the creation of "STRIDE," a University initiative that will educate and empower Demon Deacon student-athletes to capitalize on their Name, Image and Likeness and take the necessary steps to amplify their personal brands.
"STRIDE" will provide a comprehensive program for student-athletes focusing on two key initiatives: education and personal brand management. Education will be delivered through University staff and industry professionals. This program will provide Wake Forest's student-athletes with the tools and resources to enable them to build their brands, and capitalize on their name, image and likeness given the potential NCAA legislation on this topic.
"STRIDE" will help grow and extend the Wake Forest University brand, while educating and empowering all Demon Deacon student-athletes to enhance their own personal brands.
Athletics has partnered with Opendorse to help its student-athletes build their individual brands. Having provided thousands of professional athletes and sports organizations with NIL endorsement management technology and resources since 2012, Opendorse is bringing its proven technology solutions to prepare all of the student-athletes at Wake Forest University for the coming changes to Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) rights.
"While some look at coming changes to NIL rights as a challenge to overcome, schools like Wake Forest see the opportunity this presents to student-athletes and its athletics programs," said Blake Lawrence, Opendorse CEO. "Make no mistake – change is coming – and the programs that prepare now will put themselves in position to win down the road. With this forward-thinking leadership and its storied history of producing marketable athletes, I have no doubt that Wake is ready to become a leader in the NIL era."
Unique Aspects of Opendorse Ready:
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Assessments: Opendose will provide each student-athlete with an in-depth analysis of 'social media health,' featuring personalized insights and valuation of their social media Name, Image, and Likeness. Coaches can pull social Report Cards for student-athletes and prospects, which can be used to educate on how to improve social media presence, and increase fair market value to drive increased revenue from their NIL when permissible.
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Education: From benchmarks to tools and personal planning, student-athletes receive ongoing education emphasizing the opportunity and the next steps in the process for maximizing the value of their NIL.
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Performance: Opendorse provides performance tools to put personal insights and education into practice. One-tap social publishing and real-time analytics are used by athletes alongside our Guides with proven experience delivering high-performing social campaigns.
Along with key partnerships with third-party companies that come with this deal, Wake Forest Athletics will have its messaging and content improve across all of its platforms through this relationship.
About Opendorse
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Opendorse is the sports technology company that maximizes endorsement value for athletes. Today more than 25,000 athletes around the world use Opendorse to build their brand and publish social media content from partners including the PGA TOUR, NHL, NFLPA, MLBPA, WNBPA, LPGA, over 100 professional and collegiate sports teams, and hundreds of brands.
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The platform is purpose-built to help athletes make the most of their moment and to capture this massive opportunity alongside the organizations they're connected to. From All-Americans to All-Pros – when athletes share content on behalf of their partners or organizations – they share it through Opendorse.
Wake Forest Athletics has partnered with Spry to help its compliance and administrative staff, and student-athletes stay compliant with NCAA rules with regards to the emerging and rapidly changing Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) landscape.
"I'm thrilled to partner with Wake Forest to develop a comprehensive technical NIL solution. NIL is a complex ecosystem with various stakeholders, each of which has competing objectives," Spry CEO Lyle Adams said. "We (Spry and Wake Forest) will attempt to bring structure to this chaotic environment by building intuitive tools and products that ensure visibility and accountability while allowing student-athletes to maximize their NIL opportunities. Spry enables NIL management without the paperwork and administrative tasks that could inundate athletic departments and student-athletes. Wake Forest is a leader in collegiate athletics, and I commend them for being strategic with their NIL plan."
About Lyle Adams:
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Lyle Adams is an entrepreneur with a passion for products and sports. Before founding Spry, Lyle played professional soccer and worked in the tech industry most notably for Uber Technologies and LivingSocial. Lyle holds a B.A. in Economics from Wake Forest University (2009).
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Adams was a four-year letterwinner for the men's soccer team, helping lead the Demon Deacons to the 2007 National Championship along with two Atlantic Coast Conference regular season championships. Adams currently ranks tied for third games played (95) and games started (91) in program history.
Athletics has partnered with renowned author and brand consultant Jeremy Darlow.
"Today, more than at any other point in history, athletes have the opportunity to build personal brands that transcend the sports they play," said Darlow. "Thanks to the exposure and influence offered by social media, these young men and women can now control their own brand destiny. The goal is to teach athletes how to build personal brands that set them up for success in life, regardless of what happens in sports," added Darlow. "Too often athletes are defined entirely by their athletic careers without developing influence in other areas of passion. My goal is to change that."
Darlow is a leading brand consultant, former director of marketing for Adidas Football and Baseball, adjunct marketing professor, and author of the best-selling books "Brands Win Championships," a branding guidebook for college sports programs, and "Athletes Are Brands Too," an athlete's roadmap to building a stronger personal brand.
Course Overview:
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Darlow teaches college athletes of member schools how to use traditional marketing tactics and techniques to build a desirable personal brand. Whether athletes have marketing experience or not, Darlow will provide students with a simple, step-by-step guide to building that brand.
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The concepts and strategies taught by Darlow are relevant to all athletes, regardless of sport or athletic success. Darlow will teach athletes how to recognize and grow their influence, target and identify their potential audience, and develop strong communication platforms.
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Through the lessons and services provided by Darlow, athletes will learn how to use their athletic influence to help create a successful professional life that reaches beyond sports.
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Additionally on the education front, Wake Forest Athletics staff are in preliminary conversations with professors within the business school and University leadership about the addition of select courses that all students, including interested student-athletes, could take about brand & financial management to assist with the pending Name Image Likeness legislation.
