The name, image, and likeness era has given brands and agencies opportunities to forge relationships with college athletes earlier than ever before — but few have actually translated into full-on careers post-college.
Among the first to do so are those from WWE’s “Next In Line” program. It’s not only an in-college endorsement opportunity, but also a pipeline to become a WWE Superstar.
The program was crafted to develop a new focus for WWE, SVP James Kimball told Front Office Sports in a Zoom interview: creating a pathway for new Superstars at an earlier age than ever before.
“The Superstars who have really resonated…they all had a long tail to their careers,” Kimball said. “So the earlier we can get talent into the pipeline, the earlier we can execute that.”
Former Alabama track and field athlete Isaac Odugbesan and former Northwestern football player Joe Spivak are the first athletes to go through the company’s NIL program and land full-time wrestling careers. They’ll join Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson, who signed a deal with WWE when he returned to Minnesota.
Odugbesan’s journey began at SummerSlam tryouts last year. Odugbesan ranked first on WWE’s draft leaderboard and was offered a full contract, but he had another year of NCAA eligibility and wanted to spend another year in college.
When NIL rules were passed, however, Kimball realized he could keep the relationship going during Odugbesan’s final year with the Crimson Tide. As part of the inaugural NIL class, he made posts promoting the WWE brand whenever he got a chance.
“It opened our eyes to really put something in the ground here,” Kimball said.
The best part about the program “was the excitement of knowing what comes at the finish line,” Odugbesan told FOS on Zoom.
Spivak had a slightly different path to WWE — but like Odugbesan, he grew up a huge fan. He reached out to the company and expressed interest, and was soon added to the NIL team. Since football ended in the winter, Spivak was able to do more than just post — he attended events like WrestleMania and met business leaders from WWE and its partners.
Spivak found the program invaluable even if he didn’t get offered a contract as a Superstar, he told FOS on Zoom. “I’m still in the room with these types of executives.”
“Professional development is so, so, so important,” Spivak said. He hopes more companies follow WWE’s lead in creating NIL opportunities that could turn into post-graduation jobs.
“There should be more emphasis on NIL versus money from donors for recruiting, in my opinion.”
