A New Era in Sports Sponsorships with Ishveen Jolly, OpenSponsorship Founder & CEO

Hey everybody, I’m Brian Clapp, VP of Content and EngagedLearning at WorkInSports.com and this is the Work In Sports podcast.In 2015 Ishveen Jolly brought to market her dream of an openmarketplace for brands and athletes to do business.Brands have messages they want to get out in support oftheir products, athletes of all levels are great spokespeople – let's bringthem together in a transparent and accessible way. Simple right? Not exactly. There is a lot that goes into taking an ideaand making it a reality, a reality that businesses like Anheuser Busch,Groupon, The Vitamin Shoppe Draft Kings, Verizon and thousands more feel isreputable and credible enough to do business with.The first 4-5 years were about growth and expansion, both ofcredibility and business opportunity. Then as the business matures, you getinto a “what’s next” mentality. Do we need to cross into other verticals outsideof sports, like entertainment? Is there new technology we need to develop? Dowe need to change our staffing and our process?Leading a business as the CEO requires a constant mindset of“where are we going, vs. Where we have been. There is no such thing ascomfortable. Challengers emerge, technology changes – it's all fluid.And then, the biggest change of them all. Names, Images andLikeness legislation.Think about this for a second, Ishveen’s businessOpenSponsorship, was dependent on a limited number of professional athletesable to leverage who they are to generate business for other brands.Now, enter in 460,000 new collegiate athletes able to do thesame. As of July 1st, college athletes can use theirname, their image, and their likeness to earn money! This opened up a huge opportunityfor Ishveen and the great folks at OpenSponsorhip. And, amazingly, it isn’t just the big stars and the bigbrands who are making money, for example, Jackson State DE Antwan Owens strucka deal with 3 Kings Grooming! Hadn’t heard of either before I recorded this,but I love this, every bit of it. For long-time listeners you know I had Ishveen on the showtwo years ago, she is amazing, I learned so much then. Now we’re checking backin to learn more about what has happened in the NIL world over the first couplemonths of wild west action!Here’s my good friend, Ishveen Jolly...