More athletes getting involved with paid subscriber communities under NIL

When Oklahoma running back Kennedy Brooks in August invited his legion of fans to join his new text message-based community of paid subscribers for regular updates, it represented the latest way in which college athletes could monetize their NIL.

Six months into the NIL era, On3 checked in with Mike Donoghue, the co-founder and CEO of Subtext, the conversation platform that connects creators and subscribers through text messaging, to learn how this technology has been received. After initially being slow to catch on among college athletes, the move to subscriber communities is beginning to generate some momentum. 

“It has been kind of a slow roll for us,” Donoghue said. “Especially with athletes in season, getting people’s attention, onboarding them and getting them rolled up onto the platform can be a lift. One of the encouraging things we have seen is that we’ve probably added 10 in the last three weeks, so we’re seeing the volume increase a lot.”

About 20 college athletes to date are using the platform, and those who will be joining Subtext soon include Tanner Smith (Oregon men’s basketball), Kedrian “Keddy” Johnson and Isaiah Cottrell (West Virginia men’s basketball), Alexis Holmes (Kentucky women’s sprinter) and Tyneil Hopper (Boise State football). Unlike celebrities and those in the music industry, college athletes have an academic schedule that at times could hinder the time they are able to commit to business pursuits, especially in season. 

A variety of celebrities, creators, artists and media companies use Subtext, which has had a strong year overall with 700 percent year-over-year revenue growth. For those who use the platform, they may collect $4.99 per subscriber per month (they work with Subtext to create a price point, usually between $4 and $7). Open rates typically are quite strong — at least 95 percent with engagement rates exceeding 20 percent.

One particular sport that looms as a strong potential growth area for Subtext is women’s basketball, whose handful of top-line stars have amassed such a large and passionate social media following. This would allow them to provide those fans with regular text-based updates on their life on and off the court and also respond to their supporters’ comments, if they so desire. Top female basketball players, more broadly, have enjoyed well-publicized success in the NIL marketplace.

“That’s a huge area of opportunity for us,” Donoghue said. “And one of the things that I really like about women’s college basketball is that there’s so many fans that look up to these athletes. To be able to facilitate that direct connection is a really powerful and sort of emotionally evocative use for the platform. You’ll see some movement there from us shortly.”

The Subtext opportunity for college athletes launched this summer along with a partnership between the company and INFLCR, the popular compliance software platform for schools. The platform was made available to INFLCR’s network of some 50,000 athletes looking to monetize their brand in a user-friendly fashion. 

While many college athletes have robust social media followings, Donoghue contends that they are merely “renting” the relationship with their fans. This gives athletes the chance to further strengthen that relationship with supporters while also receiving compensation. All that’s required is authenticity. 

“They can look at it and say, ‘That’s meaningful for my brand, and it doesn’t mean that I have to maybe even have like a little bit of drag on my brand if I promote a product that people don’t like that I don’t have the time to research,’ ” Donoghue said. “We have been really impressed with the business acumen and sort of the technical skill and the desire of athletes to do this.”

High school QB has NIL deal

Nebraska has become the latest state to allow high school athletes to benefit from NIL. California has been out in front of this at the prep level. And now Jaden Rashada, a four-star dual-threat quarterback in the 2023 recruiting class from Pittsburg (Calif.) High, in the San Francisco suburbs, is believed to be the first high school football player to profit from endorsements. Rashada will be paid a four-figure amount to help promote the AIR (Athletes in Recruitment) app through social media posts.