Unlocking Clarity

An Uncharted Path

With the preliminary approval of the House vs. NCAA case, the landscape of collegiate athletics is already shifting, and athletic departments are now facing unprecedented challenges in revenue-sharing models. While we may not fully grasp the daily pressures senior administrators face, we’ve spent considerable time listening to the market. Our focus in these conversations has been twofold: to better understand our partners‘ current challenges and to identify what you need from technology to manage this new era.

We’ll explore the challenges athletic departments are facing and share how Teamworks is positioned to help streamline operations, enhance decision-making, and provide a competitive edge. Our solutions, both existing and in development, not only address these obstacles but also transform the way athletic departments operate.

Macro Trends Impacting Collegiate Athletics

Since June, our team has held over 75 discovery calls with senior administrators, general managers, directors of player personnel, and coaches to gain deeper insights into how they’re preparing for the future of collegiate athletics. Regardless of the outcome of the House case, we can be certain about three key trends that will continue to shape collegiate athletics:

1. Increased Athlete Earnings: The amount of money flowing to student-athletes, especially through NIL opportunities, has grown at an average rate of 20% per quarter since NIL began.
2. Complex Compensation Structures: With revenue sharing on the horizon, managing athlete payments is becoming increasingly complex, involving multiple revenue streams.
3. Player Valuation and Roster Construction: As the financial stakes rise, athletic departments need reliable tools for evaluating player value and constructing rosters in a data-driven manner.

The Need for a Unified Solution

The macro trends described above are forcing athletic departments to rapidly evolve their organizations – from introducing new roles and processes to searching for the right data and technology partners to power their future operations. The problem they are working to solve goes beyond budgeting and extends to the full lifecycle of roster planning.

Analyze: How do we make more objective, data-informed decisions about our current and future rosters?

Plan: How do we strategically allocate the various funds available to help us build a competitive team?

Execute: How do we efficiently manage contracts and pay student-athletes?

Staying committed to our mission of enhancing the student-athlete experience and supporting athletic administrators, Teamworks has developed a comprehensive ecosystem of solutions to address these needs and provide athletic departments with a clear path forward. 

Zelus: Advanced Athlete Valuation

As revenue sharing continues to evolve, collegiate athletic departments are forced to make decisions using unreliable comparative data instead of performance-based metrics. As a result, many are seeking guidance from professional sports to better determine player value as they navigate complex decisions around total athlete earnings and strive to build the best possible teams for their institutions.With the recent acquisition of Zelus, Teamworks is introducing elite-level data analytics to college athletics, enabling departments to make smarter, data-driven decisions on player recruitment and roster construction. Having worked with top organizations in major professional sports leagues like the NFL, NBA, and English Premier League, Zelus is now bringing its expertise to the collegiate level.

Zelus‘ Key Capabilities:

• Roster Optimization: Zelus uses advanced data analytics to help teams evaluate player value and predict future performance.
• Data-Driven Insights: By leveraging game film and performance data, Zelus provides teams with a 360-degree view of an athlete’s abilities, offering deeper insights than traditional evaluation methods.

By integrating Zelus’ capabilities into General Manager, GMs and coaches will be able to identify and objectively evaluate student-athletes based on on-field performance. This data will eventually power personnel decisions in Teamworks GM for your current roster, potential transfers, and high school recruits.

Teamworks General Manager: Managing Total Athlete Earnings

With the preliminary resolution of the House case, it’s clear that compensation structures are becoming increasingly complex, and athletic departments require a comprehensive solution to manage athlete earnings across multiple sources. Teamworks General Manager (GM) is designed to address this challenge by offering a centralized, permission-based decision engine for planning rosters and managing athlete earnings.

Key Features of Teamworks GM:

• Allocation Decision Management: Teamworks GM allows administrators and coaches to make allocation decisions at both the department and team levels, providing a comprehensive view of total athlete earnings.
• Data-Driven Decisions: The platform integrates comparative data to help decision-makers allocate funds more effectively.
• Scenario Planning: Administrators can budget and plan for future years based on athlete graduation dates and roster projections.
• Seamless Integration with Payments: Teamworks GM is integrated with Teamworks Wallet, ensuring that once decisions are made, payments are executed securely and efficiently.

By consolidating all sources of athlete earnings into one platform, Teamworks GM empowers athletic departments to calculate and communicate total compensation packages accurately. We’ve taken a deliberate approach to developing this product, listening closely to our customers and responding to their evolving needs. We’re ensuring that our solution is well-suited to meet both current demands and the uncertainties ahead.

Teamworks Wallet: Simplifying Athlete Payments

Athletic departments need a scalable and secure mechanism to handle athlete payments, and Teamworks Wallet is designed to meet this need. Launched in March 2024 as the first digital banking solution built specifically for college athletics, Teamworks Wallet provides student-athletes with one unified destination to receive, store, and manage all their funds, regardless of the payment source.

Key Features of Teamworks Wallet:

• One Centralized Account: Athletes receive all payments—from collectives, NIL opportunities, tuition, scholarships, and future revenue sharing—directly into their Teamworks Wallet account.
• Fee-Free Transactions: Both athletes and collectives can make and receive payments with zero transaction or processing fees, ensuring athletes receive the full amount of every payment.
• Instant Access to Funds: Payments are processed in real-time, meaning athletes have immediate access to their money.
• FDIC-Insured Accounts: Teamworks partners with banks like Wells Fargo and Comerica to ensure secure, reliable transactions.
• Tax Preparation Tools: Athletes can set aside funds for taxes and prepare for tax season with ease.
• Comprehensive Integration: Teamworks Wallet is fully integrated into the broader Teamworks operating system, providing ease of use and seamless payment processing.

Teamworks Wallet simplifies the payment process for both collectives and, eventually, schools.

Teamworks Wallet is already proving successful, with a 95% adoption rate among athletes following its recent rollout with collectives at the University of Georgia and Purdue. The strong response is driven by its easy setup and the key benefit of fee-free payments—no transaction or processing fees. When collectives make payments, athletes receive the full amount instantly and can access their funds immediately, simplifying money management while ensuring they keep 100% of their earnings.

“Wallet is a game changer – saving us time and enabling us to deliver a better athlete experience. Wallet makes it incredibly simple to pay student-athletes instantly and without fees so they quickly receive 100% of what they earned.”

• Matt Hibbs, CEO of Classic City Collective – University of Georgia

The Integrated Ecosystem

Teamworks offers a cohesive ecosystem of solutions—Teamworks Wallet, Teamworks GM, Zelus, and our NIL platform, Influencer—designed to tackle the most pressing challenges in collegiate athletics. These products work together to streamline payment processing, simplify athlete earnings management, ensure seamless NIL deal disclosure and tracking, and deliver data-driven insights for building championship-winning rosters.

Additionally, these solutions connect seamlessly with third-party platforms, including the NCAA NIL Assist platform, which Teamworks was awarded to develop earlier this year. This ensures that data flows smoothly to any required reporting entities, further simplifying compliance and administrative processes.

Build Your Game Plan with Teamworks

With the preliminary approval of the House case, the future of college athletics is becoming clearer—and Teamworks is ready to provide the solutions you need. From streamlining athlete payments and revenue sharing to optimizing player valuation, Teamworks empowers athletic departments to excel in this rapidly changing environment.

Move forward with confidence, equipped with the technology and insights necessary to succeed in this new era.

Connect with us to discuss how Teamworks can be a part of your game plan.