The Players Trunk is an online sports memorabilia shop where ex-college athletes "can sell their jerseys, sneakers, shorts and other gear and fans could have access to rare items they never could have bought before," according to Tim Casey of FORBES. Brothers Hunter Pomerantz (Syracuse) and Austin Pomerantz (Michigan) teamed with Jason Lansing (Michigan) to found the company. All three students "were managers of their colleges' men's basketball programs" before they "decided to start a business that so far has exceeded their expectations." The idea behind The Players Trunk occurred when Lansing helped former Michigan players Charles Matthews and Zavier Simpson "sell some of their gear through their Instagram pages after their college careers ended in 2019 and 2020, respectively." In early July, the group "officially launched The Players Trunk with items from Matthews, Simpson and a few other former college athletes whom they had known or contacted about the ideas." NCAA rules prohibit college athletes from profiting from their gear, but those regulations "do not apply to athletes who have exhausted their eligibility." At present, more than 200 athletes from more than 80 college programs are "selling their items on the website, as are players from the NBA and NFL." For their work, Lansing and the Pomerantz brothers "get a small cut of the sales price, although they wouldn't disclose the exact percentage, only that the athletes keep almost all of the profit" (FORBES.com, 12/14).
