How a former Shawnee Mission West linebacker is changing the college sports landscape

Blake Lawrence’s football career ended just like that.

“I woke up as a starting linebacker for Nebraska, and went to bed that night knowing I’d never play again,” Lawrence said.

A concussion suffered during a mid-season practice, his fourth in 16 months, indeed ended Lawrence’s playing career in 2009. But an entrepreneurial spirit drove him into a new world where he stands at the forefront of some of the most significant changes in college sports history.

The company Lawrence, also a former Shawnee Mission West two-way standout, founded with former Cornhuskers teammate Adi Kunalic will help college athletes determine and understand their name, image and likeness brand value.

The business, Opendorse, started with relationships with professional athletes beginning with connections with the NFL and MLB players’ associations along with the NHL, PGA and LPGA among others. Lawrence said some 40,000 professional athletes use Opendorse, including Patrick Mahomes.

Now, Lincoln, Neb.-based Opendorse is a major player in this field, poised to take advantage of a new era in college sports by matching student-athletes with brands.

It’s a messy and confusing roll-out, with a handful states having passed NIL legislation that’s set to begin on July 1. Several other states have passed NIL laws to begin at a later date.

Last Friday, Missouri lawmakers approved a bill for student-athletes to begin receiving name, image and likeness compensation beginning Aug. 28, a moment that was celebrated by MU Tigers football coach Eli Drinkwitz on his Twitter account: “MIZ Great job by our legislation! And great day for our Student Athletes.”

In Kansas, the recent legislative session wrapped up without passage of a name, image and likeness bill.

Colleges have been looking to Congress or the NCAA to come up with a uniform plan soon, but that’s not likely to happen. That means athletes in several states will have the ability to market themselves beginning this fall, and business is about to expand in a major way for Opendorse.

“In North America there are about 5,000 (pro) athletes that move the needle for endorsements,” Lawrence said. “In about 50 days, some 500,000 athletes will begin hit the market.”

Or at least the beginning of that student-athlete population. Available to them will be the ability to market their brand, which could mean making money from appearances, camps, autograph sessions and social media.

All with an athlete’s potential value available on his or her cellphone app, which is free to the user.

Lawrence describes Opendorse as a “Zillow-like estimate of how much a student-athletes brand is worth,” likening it to the online real estate-marketing company.

At the high end of potential income is a player like Oklahoma quarterback Spencer Rattler. He will enter the 2021 season as a Heisman Trophy favorite for a team that will be favored to win the Big 12.

Lawrence estimates his earnings potential this year at $588,000. Not bad for the third-year sophomore from Phoenix who until this year could receive few benefits besides a full scholarship and cost of attendance as a college athlete.

“The brand value for a top starting quarterback at a Power 5 school and likely to reach the NFL is six figures in NIL likeness revenue potential,” Lawrence said. “It really comes down to an athlete’s investment and personal branding.”

Rattler is active on social media, with 378,000 Instagram followers. Lawrence estimates that a post touting a brand on Rattler’s account would be worth about $7,000.

There aren’t many college athletes with the endorsement power of Rattler’s. But the opportunity will be there for all student-athletes. Eventually.

Missouri, among 100 schools working with Opendorse, announced last week after the state legislation passed that it is emphasizing the opportunity for all of its athletes.

“As valuable and powerful as the Mizzou brand is, we recognize that each student-athlete who comes to Mizzou has a chance to cultivate their own personal brand, and leverage that into future opportunities that will reach well beyond athletics,” athletic director Jim Sterk said. “Without question, it’s a new day in intercollegiate athletics, and we want our student-athletes to be ready for it when the bill goes into effect.”

Under the new rules, an athlete can’t receive compensation for performance. But if a company wanted to pay the football or basketball or softball player for an endorsement or autograph session, or give private lessons, orconduct a clinic, those will be allowed.

“Get ready one day to see not just Chiefs players on billboard along I-35, but a KU basketball player or a Missouri quarterback,” Lawrence said.

Perhaps, but those student-athletes won’t be wearing their KU or Mizzou uniforms. That’s one of the restrictions of name, image and likeness.

Still, recruiting may never be the same. Schools will be use brand value potential as part of their pitches to prospective players. And it’s no coincidence that the majority of states that will be the first to take advantage of NIL are part of the SEC footprint, where, as the league likes to say, “It just means more.”

“I think it’s the new frontier of college football,” Drinkwitz said in an interview before the state legislation passed. “It’s going to be a recruiting advantage to those that are out in front and set the parameters of what it’s going to be. There are going to be those that wait to see what happens. And there are going to be those schools that make it happen.”

“Our challenge at Mizzou is to be one of those schools that makes it happen.”

Lawrence credits a conversation with a former Nebraska teammate as a turning point in the business. In 2012, Lawrence connected with Prince Amukamara, a cornerback who had already won Super Bowl ring with the New York Giants. Lawrence and Kunalic, meanwhile, had started down the path of creating content for brands.

Amukamara asked his old teammates to help him create content to share with his fans. Companies asked about endorsements, a time-consuming task with multiple decision-makers.

“We became obsessed with speeding up the process,” Lawrence said. “It went from six months to six minutes. He could now us technology to understand his brand, build his brand an monetize it. He was asking us questions then that student-athletes will be asking themselves now.

“We started the company to help one athlete.”

Thousands more will soon enter this world of determining, and cashing in on, their brand value.