GamePlan: Supporting College Athletes Since Day 1
By Alexander Thorpe, Karin Meyer, Jarren Reid, Yuchen Zou, & Xander Lee
Executive Summary
We are thrilled to introduce GamePlan, a one-stop shop for financial wellbeing designed for college athletes. We aim to disrupt the college NIL market and rebuild the key infrastructure critical to the financial success of college athletes.
Existing pain points in college sports
Until recently, student-athletes were only compensated with scholarships and barred from direct payment. This left them torn between their sport and education. Even successful pro-athletes face financial struggles, with 80% of former NFL players going broke within 3 years of retiring.
Since July 2021, student-athletes can profit from their name, image, and likeness (NIL). The NIL market quickly reached $917 million, but colleges lack sufficient support for student-athletes in managing this income. Earnings are highly unequal, and NIL deals are short-term, failing to prepare athletes for post-college life.
Our Design Goal
Our primary objective is to establish an infrastructure that integrates NIL deal sourcing with personal finance learning, ultimately fostering the long-term financial wellness of athletes. College athletes face the daunting challenge of navigating the complexities of the new NIL landscape, often without adequate guidance, all while balancing rigorous training schedules, competitive games, and demanding academic commitments. Furthermore, existing university-level support for NIL and personal finance tends to adopt a generic approach, disregarding the unique variations in athletes' commercial appeal, financial literacy, aspirations, and career trajectories.
Our solution: GamePlan
Meet GamePlan, a financial hub for college athletes, facilitating additional NIL-based income while providing access to and incenting use of right-sized learning modules and expertise.
GamePlan partners with an ecosystem of program owners (e.g. Stanford Athletics), marketers (e.g., Nike, WholeFoods), and investors (e.g., The NIL Collective, Stanford alumni, Stanford Credit Union) to offer NIL deal sourcing and financial education.
Recognizing this discrepancy, we strive to depart from standardized solutions and provide personalized support that caters to the diverse needs of each athlete.
Let us introduce Alicia, our focal user persona. Alicia represents the most vulnerable demographic. Coming from a low-income background, her gymnastics scholarship serves as her only lifeline. With no prior savings and limited income from her stipend, Alicia takes on a part-time job at the school gym, but her dedication to gymnastics impedes her ability to earn a substantial income. What can we do to help Alicia achieve her personal financial goals?
This approach empowers athletes to capitalize on their athletic abilities and take charge of their financial well-being. Here's how GamePlan would assist Alicia in achieving personal and financial success: By merging NIL sourcing with financial education, GamePlan revolutionizes the college athletics landscape, empowering the next generation of athletes to thrive both on and off the field.
In June 2023, the Redesigning Finance students presented their work to a panel of experts working in the finance and student athletics sector.
