Unlocking the Potential of Overlooked College Athletes
In today’s rapidly evolving landscape, the boundaries between fashion, sport, and entertainment are becoming increasingly indistinct. From award-winning actors launching successful podcasts to TikTok stars producing Grammy-nominated albums, and NBA players modeling for underwear companies, the traditional concept of fame is shifting. While some may argue this dilutes celebrity value, a more nuanced view reveals new, compelling value propositions that simply didn’t exist before.
Jack Liechtung, founder of Canopy Talent, an agency specializing in athlete management and brand partnerships, champions this new paradigm. Speaking with Entrepreneur, he emphasizes, “Our thesis has always been: these athletes that we work with on a day-to-day basis are far more than just the sport they play.” Liechtung critiques the conventional approach that reduces athletes’ worth to the profitability of their sport, calling it “a terrible way to look at it.”
Recognizing Value Beyond Major Sports
Chris Gay, president of The Society Management—a leading modeling agency representing high-profile figures like Kendall Jenner and Adriana Lima—shares a similar outlook. He highlights the deeply engaged followings of collegiate athletes competing in less mainstream sports such as volleyball, water polo, gymnastics, swimming, and softball. “They don’t have to win the championship or play the biggest revenue sports,” Gay notes. “There’s a whole community of people deeply invested in the kid who is playing volleyball, the kid who’s playing water polo and so forth.”
Liechtung’s work primarily focuses on these overlooked collegiate athletes, uncovering a significant gap between their perceived brand value and their actual influence. “They have immense value and influence within their respective communities, and they’ve been speaking to their audiences about the brands and products they love and use outside of competition,” he explains.
A Groundbreaking Partnership: Canopy Talent and The Society Management
This shared philosophy has culminated in a pioneering partnership that bridges the worlds of collegiate sports and luxury branding. Canopy Talent and The Society Management have joined forces to offer fashion, beauty, and luxury brands direct access to a new wave of collegiate athletes. This collaboration represents a first-of-its-kind alliance designed to tap into the authentic influence these athletes wield within their communities.
Liechtung describes the partnership as a natural extension of Canopy’s original vision. After initial attempts with other agencies, the synergy with The Society Management became apparent through a series of conversations and in-person meetings, where both parties recognized their aligned goals. “I think this idea that these athletes are not bound strictly by the wins and losses in their sport was something that he really wanted to get behind,” says Liechtung.
Examples like Livvy Dunne, a collegiate athlete who has turned early fame into significant brand equity, illustrate the potential unlocked by this partnership. Liechtung also points to skier Eileen Gu—a global icon whose fame far exceeds her skiing earnings—as a “North Star” guiding their strategy.
Shifting the Paradigm: Athletes Own Their Audience
Chris Gay underscores the importance of partnering with an expert in the intricate Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) landscape, but he also stresses the necessity of a shared vision. “We really just felt a certain kinship together when we started sort of discussing this deal,” Gay says. “I felt Jack was the perfect person and his company was the perfect company to go forward with it.”
Gay’s own history includes early exposure to athletes via a modeling agency representing Boston Red Sox players, providing him with unique insights into the crossover between sports and fashion. This background informs his view that athletes and models share a remarkable similarity: both cultivate loyal fan bases independent of the teams or agencies they are affiliated with.
In the past, brand deals often meant companies like Nike managed media buying, distribution, and audience engagement. Today, content is typically created and distributed directly by the athlete or model on their own platforms. Gay explains, “This is their community. They’re bringing that to the table. There’s no intermediary.”
Liechtung adds that their strategy focuses on amplifying athletes who already have a platform and voice, helping them sharpen their personal brand—whether that focus is faith, fashion, comedy, or another passion. “The goal is never these one-off deals,” he says. “I think an athlete could kind of source their own one-off deals.”
His legal background in corporate and entertainment law proves invaluable for navigating NIL’s complexities. He admits to disliking the term “NIL” itself, noting that many brands dismiss it as “far too complicated and messy.” Instead, Canopy Talent educates brands on the tangible value these athletes can offer at both collegiate and professional levels. “You don’t need to partner with LeBron James to make an impact, to drive consumer spend, to get eyeballs,” Liechtung emphasizes.
Expanding Opportunities Beyond Traditional Sports
Under the partnership, Canopy Talent serves as The Society Management’s exclusive on-campus partner, offering access and compliance tools essential for operating within collegiate frameworks. Their familiarity with the NIL deal submission process and established school relationships streamline communication and accelerate approvals.
Liechtung believes such infrastructure will grow increasingly vital as universities seek to develop athletic programs beyond football and basketball. The incentives for athletes in less commercialized sports diverge significantly from those in major revenue sports. “Unlike the basketball and football players that have not been very incentivized to create content and kind of go get out of competition because they’re looking ahead at a pro contract, that was not the case for these other athletes,” he explains. “Frankly, I did not want to be beholden to the ACL of an offensive lineman.”
Gay envisions boundless possibilities ahead. “I think it’s incredibly dynamic because I think the needs of the brands that we work with are going to be very different than maybe some of the needs of the current type of brands that are engaging a collegiate athlete,” he says. “We’re going to be revealing a really different type of quality of content that’s going to be very different than the type of stuff that you might currently see.”
Key Takeaways
- Athletes in overlooked college sports have deeply engaged local followings that brands have historically undervalued.
- Canopy Talent and The Society Management are partnering to give fashion, beauty and luxury brands direct access to these collegiate athletes.
- Athletes now own their audiences and distribution, which makes them long-term brand partners rather than one-off endorsement deals.
To explore more about this innovative shift in athlete branding and partnerships, visit Here.
