The NBPA and Brandr Group will unveil a multiyear agreement today to develop business opportunities for active NBA players in the college athletics space. Brandr will represent NBA players' group rights in all collegiate co-branded licensing opportunities, which could potentially include replicas of certain NBA players' college jerseys. Brandr is in conversation with several brands but has not reached any agreements yet. The Brandr-NBPA deal is possible because the union regained control over players' group licensing rights for the first time in two decades as part of the new CBA reached in '17. The NBPA then launched Think450, a for-profit enterprise owned by active NBA players that is heavily involved in licensing their rights. Traditionally in pro sports, one league owned all the teams' rights and one brand provided uniforms. The college landscape is much more fractured, with hundreds more rightsholders, a handful of different jersey providers and unique distribution channels, like college bookstores. Brandr is essentially serving as the translator between two groups that have never dealt with each other in licensing, college athletic departments and the NBPA. "Their expertise in the collegiate space will allow us to further develop our licensing business for all of our players and we look forward to working with them," said Think450 Exec VP/Licensing Josh Goodstadt.
NOT THEIR FIRST TIME: This is not Brandr's first such undertaking in college sports. The company in '15 began working with the NFLPA to license players' names and likenesses to over 300 colleges. Alabama has been one of the big successes, with 60 former UA players' jerseys -- sporting their names and college numbers -- available through different outlets. Brandr Group CEO Wesley Haynes spent the last two years explaining to college athletics administrators how the NBPA co-branding deal would work. Once the details were laid out, Haynes said he consistently received the same reaction: "Wow, why hasn't this been done before?"
