Roster – NIL Command Center for College Athletes

Demographics
Primary users are college athletes in the US aged 18–24, competing at NCAA D1, D2, D3, NAIA, or NJCAA schools. They are students first, with sport as a major time commitment; many are in revenue sports (football, basketball) or high-visibility Olympic sports (swimming, track, gymnastics). Location is nationwide, with higher concentration in states with active NIL markets (e.g. Texas, California, Florida). Secondary segments include international students on US campuses (with NIL eligibility) and, for a future Team tier, athletic department staff (compliance officers, SIDs) who need visibility into athlete obligations.

Technical expertise
Users are comfortable with smartphones and social apps (Instagram, TikTok, Twitter/X) and expect mobile-first or at least mobile-friendly tools. They are not power users of spreadsheets or project tools; they prefer simple forms, clear calendars, and push or email reminders. Accessibility: support for large touch targets and readable text on small screens; optional language or literacy considerations for athletes whose first language is not English.

Pain points and challenges

1. Scattered communication: Brand deals arrive via DMs, email, and texts; contract terms live in screenshots and PDFs. There is no single place to see all active partnerships, deliverables, and due dates, which leads to missed posts and last-minute scrambles.
2. Compliance anxiety: School and NCAA NIL rules vary by institution and change over time. Athletes worry about accidentally violating disclosure or approval requirements; they often do not have a simple checklist to complete before posting.
3. Time pressure: Between practice, travel, and academics, there is little bandwidth to act as a full-time business manager. Tools that require heavy data entry or complex workflows are abandoned.
4. Professional presentation: When reaching out to brands or responding to inquiries, athletes lack a standard way to share stats, social reach, and past partnerships. Ad-hoc screenshots look unprofessional.
5. Obligation visibility: Without a calendar that aggregates all deal-related deadlines, athletes discover too late that multiple posts or appearances are due in the same week.

Primary use cases and goals

1. Log and track deals: Add each NIL partnership with brand name, contract summary, deliverables (e.g. 2 Instagram posts, 1 appearance), and due dates; attach contract screenshots or PDFs. Goal: one source of truth for all active deals.
2. See what’s due when: Use a single calendar view of content and appearance deadlines across all deals; filter by deal or date. Goal: no missed deliverables.
3. Stay compliant: Complete a short, deal- or post-specific checklist (e.g. school approval, disclosure language) before publishing. Goal: reduce risk of NIL rule violations.
4. Share a media kit: Generate a one-page profile (photo, sport, school, stats, social handles, past partnerships) and share a link with brands. Goal: present professionally without building a custom pitch each time.
5. Get reminded: Receive email (and optional push) reminders for upcoming due dates and compliance tasks. Goal: stay on top of obligations without constant manual checking.

How they interact with the application
Channels: primarily web (desktop or mobile browser) and optionally a native or PWA mobile app for on-the-go checks. Frequency: daily or near-daily during the season when deals are active; weekly or less in the off-season. Key flows: (1) onboarding: add first deal and connect calendar/reminders; (2) daily: quick glance at calendar and any due-this-week items; (3) when a new deal is signed: log deal and deliverables; (4) before posting: run through compliance checklist; (5) when a brand asks for info: share media kit link.

Success criteria
Success means: fewer missed content deadlines, no compliance slip-ups that could affect eligibility or reputation, less time spent hunting for contract details or assembling info for brands, and a clearer picture of total NIL obligations at any time. Outcomes they can point to: “I never miss a post,” “I always complete the compliance steps,” “I have one link to send brands.” The product is working when athletes feel in control of their NIL commitments without it feeling like a second job.