Inaugural AthleteCon Delivers NIL Deals, Education to College Athletes

NIL content advisor Sam Green brings together student-athletes, brands for hands-on experience

MCKENZIE LANGE/ Staff / USA TODAY

With NIL celebrating its third birthday in less than a month, college student-athletes now have access to more resources than even before to engage in the process, build their personal brands and ultimately earn compensation. However, entering year four, there is still a gap in the content creation education department. Until now.

Last week, NIL content advisor Sam Green hosted her inaugural AthleteCon powered by athletes.org that brought together student-athletes from across the country with industry experts and interested brand partners to learn from each other, capture and curate engaging real-time content and bring NIL partnerships to life over the course of the two-day event.

Green - a former college and NBA dancer turned ESPN social media editor turned NIL education - has worked with more than 200 Division I athletes over the past three years and saw a clear gap in content creation education.

"I've never attended an event where NIL was tangible," Green shared. "70% of NIL deals revolve around brands paying athletes to create content. AthleteCon was the first event where athletes could create content for brands in-person, secure NIL deals based on that content, all while receiving education on how to enhance their brand and optimize their platforms to build a lasting presence beyond their playing careers."

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60 Division I athletes - from Clemson and Ohio State to Belmont and Elon - attended AthleteCon alongside more than 25 brands. Every athlete in attendance earned a paid partnership with Ghostfit Apparel while skin care brand Good Molecules awarded three deals worth $1,000 each. Additional paid partnerships came from the likes of The Rock's ZOA Energy - who also launched an ambassador program - coffee brand Knowledge Perk, Huel Nutrition and NIL software platform Basepath, who facilitated all the deals during the event.

"AthleteCon was an invaluable experience for student-athletes to learn how to maximize their NIL but also do it in a safe and smart way which is so important," SMU volleyball player Alex Glover - one of the most prolific athletes in NIL over the last three years - shared. "This event is unique in the way that Sam knows every single athlete attending and is their personal hype-woman in their NIL and athletic journey which is shown through her attention to detail as well as activities at the convention. She gave us a safe space to learn, ask questions, and network with brands and other student-athletes all in one day while having a blast. I haven’t been to an event like hers yet and we are lucky to have her in the NIL space."

With an event schedule that included athlete networking, brand meet-ups, product trials, content creation sessions, an award ceremony and of course NIL deal securing, AthleteCon was an experience that student-athletes haven't seen before. The most unique NIL deal at AthleteCon came from insurance company Player's Health, who awarded a $10,000 policy to one athlete.

"As college athletes build their brands, it's crucial they consider the longevity and protection of their financial and legal interests," Player's Health Chief Marketing Officer Jason Berry said. "Player's Health's involvement in the inaugural AthleteCon was key to educating athletes on brand creation and protection. Sam Green's AthleteCon is pivotal, driven by genuine care for athletes and their futures."

Speakers included executives from the likes of Meta, Snapchat, TikTok and Canva, among others.

"The AthleteCon experience was super valuable in teaching college athletes the ins and outs of contact creation," Elon football player Jon Seaton - who has nearly 2 million followers across TikTok and Instagram - shared. "Even though I’ve been creating consistently for the past four years, I was still able to draw knowledge and insight into how to effectively build and scale my professional brand. This event provided so much value as it allowed me to work with and meet other athletes with similar goals to mine, and we were able to bring different lessons to the table from the myriad of experiences we had at our respective schools. AthleteCon really differentiated itself from the NIL event space by allowing for us to gain hands on experience in creating content, opposed to simply providing information and an opportunity to network. Overall I’m super proud and appreciative of what Sam has accomplished, and I’m looking forward to seeing just how far this can go in the future."

While athlete and brand content continues to flood Instagram feeds since the event wrapped up, Green - who this week is a featured speaker at the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) conference in Las Vegas - she is already starting the planning process for AthleteCon 2.0 next year.

"The community created by AthleteCon was unlike anything I've ever seen," Green added. "Athletes from rival schools came together, formed strong friendships, all while learning. I planned AthelteCon in 3 months with zero employees and the event truly made an impact on these athletes lives. I can’t wait to move the needle for NIL with AthleteCon 2.0."