Overview

San Diego State University (SDSU) is committed to helping its student-athletes maximize their NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) opportunities by increasing visibility in front of brands. With hundreds of athletes across various sports, SDSU needed a platform to showcase their athletes’ marketability and connect them with brands looking for authentic partnerships. By using Out2Win, SDSU has streamlined the process of getting their athletes discovered and helped secure more NIL deals across multiple sports.

The Challenge

San Diego State faced several challenges associated with scaling their NIL Department:

Limited Athlete Visibility

San Diego State University (SDSU) has over 600 athletes across various sports but lacked an effective way to distribute their roster to brands interested in NIL partnerships. They needed a platform that would allow brands to easily filter by sport, view specific teams, and quickly identify athletes who matched their campaign needs.

Lack of Data for Pitching and Decision-Making

San Diego State struggled to effectively present their athletes to brands due to a lack of detailed data and insights. The information they could provide was often limited to basic bios and stats, which fell short of what brands needed to make informed decisions. Without key metrics like social media performance, audience demographics, and engagement rates, SDSU had no way to demonstrate the full value of their athletes. This lack of robust data made it difficult to build compelling pitches, negotiate partnerships, and prove the potential ROI of NIL deals, ultimately limiting opportunities for their athletes.

Educating their Athletes

With NIL still a relatively new concept, SDSU sought a way to educate their athletes on how to grow their personal brand and improve their marketability. Many athletes were unfamiliar with how to position themselves for partnerships or what brands to look for when deciding who to sponsor. SDSU needed a solution that would empower athletes to take control of their NIL opportunities.

The Solution

Public Roster

Out2Win’s public roster feature enables San Diego State to showcase their athletes, along with industry-leading social media insights, directly to brands seeking NIL partnerships. Brands can seamlessly filter through SDSU’s extensive roster by sport and social media performance metrics, making it easier to identify the right athletes. This streamlined access to data-driven profiles has led to a noticeable increase in brand deals for SDSU athletes.

University Dashboard

Out2Win’s university dashboard provides San Diego State with valuable insights into the performance of their NIL program, both at the department level and across individual teams and athletes. Key data points such as Total Sponsored Posts per Month and Sponsored Posts by Team enables SDSU to track progress, measure success, and refine their NIL strategy. These metrics are crucial for evaluating the impact of their efforts and identifying new opportunities to drive athlete partnerships.

Internal Education

San Diego State leverages Out2Win’s database of over 250,000 athletes to educate their own athletes on best practices for social media performance. By analyzing what top-performing athletes were doing— from posting frequency to content style — SDSU athletes have gained valuable insights into strategies that drive growth. Additionally, athletes can track their own social media data through the platform, allowing them to see how their efforts translated into tangible results.

The Results

Increased Athlete Visibility & Uptick in Brand Partnerships

SDSU’s athletes gained greater exposure to brands through Out2Win’s public roster feature, making it easier for brands to discover and engage with athletes across different sports.

Empowered Athletes

SDSU athletes became more informed about their own social media performance, tracking their growth and identifying ways to improve their marketability. This led to a boost in engagement across several athletes’ social platforms, making them more attractive to brands.

Time-Saving

The streamlined process of distributing athlete rosters and connecting with brands saved the SDSU staff significant time, allowing them to focus more on helping athletes prepare for partnerships rather than manually handling outreach.