Company elevates college athlete influencers to deliver the missing layer for retail media networks, connecting cultural influence to verified commercial outcomes at scale

LINCOLN, Neb., June 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Opendorse, the technology, data, and service platform powering the Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) industry, today announced the official launch of Opendorse One™ and introduced Athlete Commerce Media as a new performance category connecting athlete-powered content to retail media networks at scale.

The announcement marks a strategic pivot in how the company presents its commercial offering to brand marketers, agency media buyers, and retail media networks — a distinctive shift from simply an NIL platform to commerce media infrastructure. Athlete Commerce Media connects retailer first-party purchase data to athlete-powered digital content, closing the loop from cultural influence to verified retail outcome, at a time when the estimated total spend on NIL products and services is projected to reach a whopping $4.2B in 2026-27.

"Over the past couple of years, brands have shifted from treating NIL as a PR play to a tried-and-true media channel," said Steve Denton, CEO of Opendorse. "This is the present and future. It's about real results and value, not just supporting your alma mater. With the launch of Opendorse One™, we've built the infrastructure for athletes to establish their personal brands and act as media channel extensions for brands. Advertisers, schools, and athletes that won the first wave of NIL did it with Opendorse, and those building for the next wave are making the same call right now."

The first wave of NIL is over
From 2021 to 2023, brands treated college athlete partnerships as a PR play — one-off posts, uncertain ROI, compliance friction. The brands that shifted to treating athlete content as a plannable media channel are now pulling away from the ones that didn't. Opendorse is the infrastructure that separates those two groups — built on more than a decade of relationships inside 250+ university athletic departments that no competitor can replicate from scratch, and 200,000 commercially ready athletes representing 67% NIL share of voice.

The Opendorse Network: Scale No Competitor Can Match
The Opendorse network remains the foundation: 200,000+ college athletes across every sport, school, and market. Under $25 CPM fully loaded. A 5.6% average engagement rate — nearly three times the 1.9% benchmark for general influencers. 98% of the top 100 DMAs covered by a Division I program, giving brands national scale with DMA-level precision.

The Opendorse One™ subnetwork offers unprecedented media value
Opendorse One™ is the premium commercial tier built on top of the Opendorse Network: 1,000+ curated elite athletes with structured commercial relationships and full-service execution. Brands leveraging Opendorse One™ are seeing 3-5x boosts to media investment per campaign. It is the product brand CMOs and agency teams buy against when athlete marketing needs to perform like a media channel. A selection of Opendorse One™ athletes is available at opendorse.com/one.

Opendorse Commerce Media (OCM): The Demand Generation Layer for Retail Media
Opendorse Commerce Media (OCM) connects athlete inventory directly into retail media ecosystems, including DG Media Network, Roundel, Walmart Connect, Amazon Advertising, and more. Athlete content becomes offsite RMN inventory for endemic brand campaigns, with purchase signals closing the loop back to the retailer. OCM is not a competing product to existing RMN inventory — it is the demand generation layer that makes on-site inventory convert harder.

"This is a new day in athlete marketing," said Denton. "It's culture in, commerce out. We are proud of what we've built at Opendorse over the past dozen years — how we've consistently overdelivered value for marketers, colleges, and athletes. Now, we're building the commerce infrastructure that a maturing industry needs, and the brands that move early will define what athlete marketing looks like for the next decade."

Opendorse will be present at Cannes Lions 2026, where the company will introduce the Athlete Commerce Media category to brand, agency, and retail media leadership.

About Opendorse
Opendorse is the technology, data, and service platform powering the Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) industry. More than 200,000 athlete influencers use Opendorse to build, promote, and monetize their personal brands through the largest athlete media network. Opendorse One™ is the company's premium commercial unit — a curated network of elite athletes with structured brand partnerships and full-service execution — built on top of the Opendorse Commerce Media Network.

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SOURCE Opendorse