The 1st College Athlete to Sign Adidas NIL Deal

Two months after releasing an ambitious plan for an NIL program, Adidas has signed its first athlete.

On Tuesday, Adidas announced a deal with Stanford women’s golfer and 2022 NCAA team and individual national champion Rose Zhang. 

In March, Adidas revealed likely the largest NIL program in the sports apparel industry, offering partnerships to every Division I athlete at an Adidas school. The deals would span all sports and genders, making more than 50,000 athletes eligible. 

Zhang, however, does not attend an Adidas school — Stanford is outfitted by Nike, which recently added Zhang’s teammate, Rachel Heck, to its NIL roster. So Zhang will sport Adidas apparel outside her Stanford gear for the program, as well as participate in marketing campaigns.

At the time, Adidas did not disclose how much athletes would specifically be compensated.

“This is just the start” of Adidas’ NIL program, the company said in a statement. Zhang is the first of a group of female athletes that Adidas is assembling for their “next phase” of the program.

Zhang, the world’s No. 1 amateur women’s golfer, will compete in the U.S. Open later this week.