PRESS RELEASE:
USC ATHLETICS ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIP WITH ALTIUS SPORTS PARTNERS TO DEVELOP COMPREHENSIVE NIL PROGRAM
– Leading edge NIL-focused firm to provide strategic support around NIL, including educational training and strategic guidance –
LOS ANGELES, June 17, 2021 – As its student-athletes prepare to capitalize on their name, image and likeness, USC Athletics announced a new partnership today with leading NIL advisory and education firm Altius Sports Partners to provide strategic guidance, consultation, and wide-ranging educational support in creating the school’s NIL program, which will benefit all 21 Trojan men's and women's sports programs and 550-plus student-athletes.
“Our partnership with Altius is about much more than a short-term focus on educational programming needs as we prepare our student-athletes for this new era,” said Mike Bohn, Director of Athletics. “With Altius, we are aligning with a dedicated partner that has the resources, capacity, and network to refine and enhance our strategic vision to become the national leader in name, image, and likeness in support of our student-athletes. Located in the largest market in the world for college sports, USC and its student-athletes will have a unique advantage in the NIL space. We intend to be on the cutting edge of NIL for our current student-athletes and all who join the Trojan Family in the future.”
Initially, a central component of the partnership includes developing a comprehensive education plan to support the program’s staff, coaches and student-athletes. USC and ASP’s cross-disciplinary team of NIL experts will collaborate on educational programming related to several key elements of the upcoming NIL implementation, such as rules and regulatory awareness, revenue opportunity maximization, recruiting best practices, and gender equity and social justice implications, among other considerations related to empowering student-athletes.
As the NCAA, congressional, and state legislative processes evolve, the partnership with ASP and its specific NIL focus will allow USC to be agile in response to a new and rapidly changing environment. Long-term, ASP will play a central role in strengthening USC’s NIL plan, which launched in October 2020 with the announcement of the athletic department's in-house creative lab, BLVD Studios.
This is ASP's first all-encompassing partnership in the Pac-12 Conference. “From being in the heart of the entertainment capital of the world, to its A-list alumni base, USC sits atop the list of schools poised to maximize on NIL rules changes in the near future. We are honored to be part of making that happen for each and every Trojan,” said ASP CEO Casey Schwab.
Schwab is supported by a full-time operational leadership and client services team dedicated to providing specific NIL support to USC and other ASP partners. ASP’s network of leaders and advisory team members includes:
· John Entz, a 14-time Emmy winner who was formerly President of Production at Fox Sports, Senior Vice President at the MLB Network and a producer at ESPN.
· Gabe Feldman, a sports law expert who is Director of the Tulane Sports Law Program, Associate Provost for NCAA Compliance and Co-Director of the Tulane Center for Sport.
· Renie Anderson, known as “one of the most powerful women in sports,” currently serves as the Chief Revenue Officer and Executive Vice President, Partnerships at the NFL.
· Jené Elzie, a former Pac-12 student-athlete, previously served as Vice President of International Marketing for the NBA and is now Chief Growth Officer for Athletes First Partners, sister company of Athletes First which is the largest NFL talent representation agency in the country.
· Oliver Luck, a sports business leader whose experiences have included roles as Commissioner of the XFL, Executive Vice President for Regulatory Affairs and Strategic Partnerships for the NCAA, and Athletic Director at West Virginia University.
· Michael O’Hara Lynch, a world-renowned sports marketer and former global head of sponsorship marketing at Visa, Inc. and global head of consulting at Nielson Sports, currently serves as a partner in 3 Emerald Marketing consulting in the sports, music and entertainment.
· Jessica Mendoza, a former Pac-12 student-athlete and Olympic gold and silver medalist, is currently a broadcaster for ESPN since 2007 who became the first woman to serve as an analyst for nationally televised MLB games.
· Kenneth Shropshire, a 30-year veteran of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business where he was a professor and Director of the Wharton Sports Business Initiative, is now CEO of the Global Sport Institute and a professor at Arizona State University.
· Malcolm Turner, a highly regarded sports business executive, served in prior roles as Vice Chancellor and Athletics Director at Vanderbilt University and President of the NBA G League.
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About Altius Sports Partners
Altius Sports Partners is a leading-edge NIL focused firm that delivers consulting, strategic planning, compliance support and education to its clients. Currently, the firm represents the athletics departments at Louisiana State University, the University of Texas, the University of South Carolina, the University of Georgia, the University of North Carolina, and USC, and has also partnered with Women Leaders in College Sports. Providing all stakeholders – athletic departments, coaches, and student athletes – with the resources they need to thrive in this new age of college athletics, ASP leverages its deep reservoir of sports business sophistication to help those impacted by NIL changes prepare and excel. We have built a team of cross-disciplinary leaders to reach higher levels of education, higher access to opportunities and higher standards of excellence.
USC ATHLETICS ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIP WITH ALTIUS SPORTS PARTNERS TO DEVELOP COMPREHENSIVE NIL PROGRAM
– Leading edge NIL-focused firm to provide strategic support around NIL, including educational training and strategic guidance –
LOS ANGELES, June 17, 2021 – As its student-athletes prepare to capitalize on their name, image and likeness, USC Athletics announced a new partnership today with leading NIL advisory and education firm Altius Sports Partners to provide strategic guidance, consultation, and wide-ranging educational support in creating the school’s NIL program, which will benefit all 21 Trojan men's and women's sports programs and 550-plus student-athletes.
“Our partnership with Altius is about much more than a short-term focus on educational programming needs as we prepare our student-athletes for this new era,” said Mike Bohn, Director of Athletics. “With Altius, we are aligning with a dedicated partner that has the resources, capacity, and network to refine and enhance our strategic vision to become the national leader in name, image, and likeness in support of our student-athletes. Located in the largest market in the world for college sports, USC and its student-athletes will have a unique advantage in the NIL space. We intend to be on the cutting edge of NIL for our current student-athletes and all who join the Trojan Family in the future.”
Initially, a central component of the partnership includes developing a comprehensive education plan to support the program’s staff, coaches and student-athletes. USC and ASP’s cross-disciplinary team of NIL experts will collaborate on educational programming related to several key elements of the upcoming NIL implementation, such as rules and regulatory awareness, revenue opportunity maximization, recruiting best practices, and gender equity and social justice implications, among other considerations related to empowering student-athletes.
As the NCAA, congressional, and state legislative processes evolve, the partnership with ASP and its specific NIL focus will allow USC to be agile in response to a new and rapidly changing environment. Long-term, ASP will play a central role in strengthening USC’s NIL plan, which launched in October 2020 with the announcement of the athletic department's in-house creative lab, BLVD Studios.
This is ASP's first all-encompassing partnership in the Pac-12 Conference. “From being in the heart of the entertainment capital of the world, to its A-list alumni base, USC sits atop the list of schools poised to maximize on NIL rules changes in the near future. We are honored to be part of making that happen for each and every Trojan,” said ASP CEO Casey Schwab.
Schwab is supported by a full-time operational leadership and client services team dedicated to providing specific NIL support to USC and other ASP partners. ASP’s network of leaders and advisory team members includes:
· John Entz, a 14-time Emmy winner who was formerly President of Production at Fox Sports, Senior Vice President at the MLB Network and a producer at ESPN.
· Gabe Feldman, a sports law expert who is Director of the Tulane Sports Law Program, Associate Provost for NCAA Compliance and Co-Director of the Tulane Center for Sport.
· Renie Anderson, known as “one of the most powerful women in sports,” currently serves as the Chief Revenue Officer and Executive Vice President, Partnerships at the NFL.
· Jené Elzie, a former Pac-12 student-athlete, previously served as Vice President of International Marketing for the NBA and is now Chief Growth Officer for Athletes First Partners, sister company of Athletes First which is the largest NFL talent representation agency in the country.
· Oliver Luck, a sports business leader whose experiences have included roles as Commissioner of the XFL, Executive Vice President for Regulatory Affairs and Strategic Partnerships for the NCAA, and Athletic Director at West Virginia University.
· Michael O’Hara Lynch, a world-renowned sports marketer and former global head of sponsorship marketing at Visa, Inc. and global head of consulting at Nielson Sports, currently serves as a partner in 3 Emerald Marketing consulting in the sports, music and entertainment.
· Jessica Mendoza, a former Pac-12 student-athlete and Olympic gold and silver medalist, is currently a broadcaster for ESPN since 2007 who became the first woman to serve as an analyst for nationally televised MLB games.
· Kenneth Shropshire, a 30-year veteran of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business where he was a professor and Director of the Wharton Sports Business Initiative, is now CEO of the Global Sport Institute and a professor at Arizona State University.
· Malcolm Turner, a highly regarded sports business executive, served in prior roles as Vice Chancellor and Athletics Director at Vanderbilt University and President of the NBA G League.
###
About Altius Sports Partners
Altius Sports Partners is a leading-edge NIL focused firm that delivers consulting, strategic planning, compliance support and education to its clients. Currently, the firm represents the athletics departments at Louisiana State University, the University of Texas, the University of South Carolina, the University of Georgia, the University of North Carolina, and USC, and has also partnered with Women Leaders in College Sports. Providing all stakeholders – athletic departments, coaches, and student athletes – with the resources they need to thrive in this new age of college athletics, ASP leverages its deep reservoir of sports business sophistication to help those impacted by NIL changes prepare and excel. We have built a team of cross-disciplinary leaders to reach higher levels of education, higher access to opportunities and higher standards of excellence.
