Twitter, Opendorse, Pac-12 NIL Deal Highlights Growth Of Athlete Marketing

By Barry Janoff

August 4, 2022: In a strategy intended to enhance and expand the NIL category, the Pac-12 today unveiled a name, image, likeness plan with sports tech firm Tempus Ex Machina, Twitter and Opendorse for all student-athletes to help them monetize their performance.

Beginning with football and both men’s and women’s basketball players, Tempus Ex Machina, which has an alliance with the Pac-12, said it would “deliver personalized highlights to each participating student-athlete available immediately after the game concludes.”

A partnership between Twitter and Opendorse formed last June will help leverage payment for athletes through Opendorse’s NIL platform.

If players choose to post their own highlights, Twitter will add advertising, with players paid a percentage based on ad sales.

“Twitter has always been and will continue to act as the megaphone for athletes to use their voice," David Herman, senior partner manager for Twitter Sports, said via the company.

"Now they can leverage their most impactful moments on the field to earn meaningful NIL compensation. We're thrilled to roll this program out with Pac-12 football and look forward to expanding it to sports and conferences across the country."

The plan is to expand the platform  to other sports and other universities and conferences.

Tempus Ex Machina said its proprietary technology is the “only available solution that can deliver every angle of every play from games, automatically provide a digital video clip, and deliver personalized highlights to each participating student-athlete available immediately after the games concludes.”

“The Pac-12 was the first conference to make its game highlights available to student-athletes for NIL purposes,” Annie Gerhart, COO, Tempus Ex Machina, said via the San Francisco-based company.

“And now, through our all-encompassing data and technology partnership, we can offer Pac-12 student-athletes something they’ve never been able to utilize before for their own financial benefit.”

According to Gerhart, “Our technology is ready for social media companies to create turnkey monetization programs that student-athletes can opt into and begin to earn compensation on their own highlights.”

Tempus Ex Machina also has deals that include the NFL, and investors that include Larry Fitzgerald Jr., former NFL All-Pro wide receiver and also a company board member.

“By giving Pac-12 student-athletes access to their own personalized game day highlights, it opens up a whole new avenue for them to monetize and amplify their brands,” Fitzgerald Jr. said via Tempus Ex Machina.

"Tempus Ex’s proprietary FusionFeed technology is a game changer for college student-athletes as they continue to explore NIL partnerships."

The Pac-12 Conference currently includes Arizona, Arizona State, UC-Berkeley, UCLA, Colorado-Boulder, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, USC, Utah, Washington and Washington State.

In June, UCLA and USC said they planned to leave the Pac-12 to join the Big Ten in 2024.

"Our partnership with Tempus Ex is focused on enhancing our student-athlete and fan experiences," Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff said via the organization.

"Today's announcement is another important step in positioning the Pac-12 as a leader when it comes to student-athlete promotion and brand building,” 

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