Team-focused NIL startup partnering with UC athletes | Sports

Once Cincinnati quarterback Desmond Ridder was on board, his offensive line and women’s basketball counterparts not far across Varsity Village were right behind him. Onboard with a new NIL opportunity that is.

With the recent onset of rule changes to college athletics, student-athletes are able to be compensated for their name, image and likeness, or NIL. Since the new NCAA rule finally passed, stars from some of the biggest schools have taken the spotlight for their deals and profits, but what about the rest of the team? 

That’s where TeamPaper, a NIL division of Retrieve Technologies, comes into the new space, giving fans a way to connect to the entire team and players who don’t live on the Megatron an opportunity to monetize their immense commitments. 

TeamPaper first reached out to the University of Cincinnati because they wanted non-power five representatives since their first deals were with Iowa, LSU and Alabama. So, who better than the program that was weeks away from breaking history as the first-ever non-power five programs to make the College Football Playoffs. 

Although one of their missions is to give players with less playing time and attention a voice and opportunity to monetize their role on the team, TeamPaper knew convincing Ridder of their business model would surely get them in with more Bearcat’s. That they did, 20 members of Cincinnati’s football program and four from the Bearcat’s Women’s Basketball Program have agreed to contribute content to TeamPaper. 

With a $10/month subscription to Cincinnati’s TeamPaper fan group, fans can find exclusive content such as videos and merchandise to support their team.

TeamPaper, founded in July of 2021 by two former college athletes, takes 10% of the profits from the NIL deals, with 80% to the athletes and 10% to The Boys and Girls Club. However, the majority going to the athletes isn’t funneled to the stars, it is shared evenly amongst the teammates in the deal. 

One of TeamPaper’s two founders, Patrick Griffin, was motivated to give back to student-athletes after graduating from Harvard in 2005 where he was on the baseball team. Although not a star on Harvard’s pitching mound, Griffin felt a sense of underrepresentation for his contribution to making the stars better and was propelled to do something about it for current and future student-athletes in the shoes he once wore. 

Griffin said the “unsung heroes” of teams were in mind when putting together and launching his new business. 

With plenty of content to come from the Bearcat’s already onboard with TeamPaper, Griffin said they are eager to expand their Cincinnati footprint with other teams on campus. 

“If you look at the way NIL deals have been flowing, they’re really flowing to one or two percent of the population,” Griffin said on his model, aiming to allow fans to support an entire team and not just individual players.

Subscribing to TeamPaper’s Cincinnati member’s area does not benefit other teams in partnership with TeamPaper; each university subscription is separate. 

Griffin said he wants Cincinnati super-fans to have an insider look at the personal lives of their favorite teams and players through their yearbook/media-guide style subscription.

Griffin said his time working to make college socioeconomically affordable in the financial aid office of Harvard gave him the perspective and insight to see that many student-athletes wouldn’t be able to attend college if it weren’t for the talents they have and the team’s they’re on. Thus, teams as a whole must be recognized in the new NIL space, not just Heisman Trophy candidates and all-conference players, Griffin said. 

TeamPaper’s NIL model works like an album deal, where athletes are given an advance on future sales that they don’t have to pay back since the content is behind a paywall. 

“This is probably the easiest way to support your team in the NIL area,” Griffin said. 

Bearcat fans can subscribe to Cincinnati’s TeamPaper member area here.