College athletes will be able to opt in for group licensing deals through a new partnership between OneTeam Partners and Opendorse, opening the door for video games, jersey sales and other merchandise in the college space just two days before name, image and likeness rights take effect. OneTeam will create the marketing and revenue opportunities for the group, while Opendorse will use its software from its Opendorse Deals platform to aggregate athlete rights and manage the process. OneTeam will be designated as Opendorse’s exclusive group licensing partner. Group licensing had been taken off the table early in the NCAA’s deliberations on NIL, and it was never part of the legislation that had been proposed. Once the NCAA was unable to pass its own legislation and instead chose to permit schools to craft their own NIL rules, group marketing became a feasible opportunity for college athletes. Revenue from group deals will be shared equally among the athletes that are involved. To start, OneTeam will create deal-based groups that athletes can opt into, so there’s not a certain number of athletes required to designate it as a group. In the NFLPA, for example, a group license is for six or more players. Unlike the players' associations in the pros, however, there is not yet a centralized place from which to acquire college athlete rights. That will evolve as the marketplace matures.
