Ibotta Unlocks Earning Possibilities for Every College Athlete Nationwide Through First-of-its-Kind NIL Partner Program

DENVER, Sept. 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Building on the success of its sports marketing strategy, Ibotta, the leading performance marketing platform, today announced a new, first-of-its-kind NIL and partner program. Through Ibotta’s College Athlete Partner Program (CAPP), every college athlete in the U.S. can begin to earn money by creating content and referring others to Ibotta.

Athletes in the CAPP will receive a custom referral code, and can earn cash for every new user who joins Ibotta with that code and redeems their first offer. The program, which launches today, invites all college athletes in the U.S. to participate, regardless of their sport, division level, campus size, or follower count.

“Our mission at Ibotta is simple: make every purchase rewarding. Creating this program allows us to deliver on that promise for all college athletes, and their fans, across the country,” said Richard Donahue, chief marketing officer at Ibotta. “We’re thrilled to give every player, from highly recruited D1 stars to unheralded walk-ons, in every sport, from football to volleyball to swimming, an opportunity to promote smart shopping and capitalize on their name, image, and likeness.”

To kick off the CAPP, Ibotta teamed up with Opendorse, the leading athlete marketplace and NIL technology company, to welcome the following players as the first set of athletes to join the initiative:

• Elena Arenas, gymnastics at Louisiana State University
• Armando Bacot, basketball at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Emily Cole, track and field at Duke University
• Connor Essegian, basketball at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
• Margzetta Frazier, gymnastics at the University of California, Los Angeles
• Connor Printz, basketball at Claremont McKenna College
• Chase Saldate, wrestling at Michigan State University
• Maya Zovoko, soccer at Georgia Southern University

Ibotta will work with these athletes, along with future participants, to create social media content aimed at driving awareness of the program, as well as the many different ways Ibotta users can earn cashback.

“Opendorse strives to help athletes find opportunities to partner with brands that share their same values, which is critical to the success of any influencer campaign,” said Blake Lawrence, chief executive officer at Opendorse. “Student-athletes often have less flexibility in their schedules than their peers. Ibotta understands these unique demands, and I'm proud to connect their team with an array of talented young athletes to bring this collaboration to life.”

"As a student-athlete running 60+ miles a week, I’m always trying to find ways to save both time and money,” said Emily Cole of Duke University’s track and field team. “Using Ibotta is a simple way to earn cash back on items I need to help fuel me and all my other running needs. Plus, with the College Athlete Partner Program, I can save even more by referring my friends to help them do the same."

The launch of this program, to all college athletes, follows the successful sports marketing program Ibotta announced earlier in the year in partnership with Pearpop and The Brndr Group. Through this program, Ibotta collaborated with UConn’s Paige Bueckers and a number of other prominent female college athletes to promote smart shopping.

For more information on Ibotta’s College Athlete Partner Program and how to join, visit https://home.ibotta.com/capp. For more information on Ibotta and how to make every purchase rewarding, visit Ibotta.com.

About Ibotta
Built and headquartered in Denver, Colo., Ibotta ("I bought a...") is the leading performance marketing platform allowing brands to deliver digital promotions to over 200 million consumers through a network of publishers called the Ibotta Performance Network (IPN). The IPN allows marketers to influence what people buy, and where and how often they shop – all while paying only when their campaigns directly result in a sale. American shoppers have earned over $1.5B through the Ibotta Performance Network. Ibotta was named to the 2021 Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. for the fourth year in a row, after debuting on the list in 2018. A great place to work, Ibotta has been recognized by The Denver Post four consecutive times, made BuiltIn Colorado’s Best Places to Work list three years in a row and appeared on Inc.’s list of Best Workplaces twice.

About Opendorse
Opendorse is the leading athlete marketplace and NIL company, providing technology and services to the athlete endorsement industry. More than 100,000 athletes use Opendorse to build and monetize their name, image, and likeness with support from hundreds of colleges and thousands of brands, fans, donors, and partners including Team USA, LEARFIELD, U.S. Bank, Keller Williams, and more.

Press Contact
LaunchSquad for Ibotta
ibotta@launchsquad.com

Released September 27, 2023