Signing moves brand into next phase of equitable and wide-sweeping NIL program with individual student-athlete partnerships
Rose Zhang enters the U.S. Women’s Open this week as the best female amateur golfer in the world, having recently added “National Champion” to her growing list of achievements after winning both the individual and team titles at the 2022 NCAA D1 Women’s Golf Championship.
Today, she makes history again by becoming the first student-athlete to join team adidas by entering into a Name, Image and Likeness endorsement agreement with the brand. Earlier this year, adidas announced the first wide-sweeping, equitable and inclusive NIL network reaching more than 50,000 eligible student-athletes across 23 sports and all genders at 109 D1 universities.
This announcement moves the brand into the next phase of its NIL program as adidas begins to welcome individual student-athletes as brand ambassadors, the first group of whom will be women competing in multiple different sports. As part of her multi-year contract with adidas, Rose will proudly represent the 3-Stripes both on and off the course in all competition, training, and other play outside her university team obligations. She will also feature in brand marketing campaigns promoting the newest products in golf apparel and footwear.
“adidas has been a major part of some of my biggest wins as an amateur, so this is an exciting moment for me,” said Zhang. “I’m most comfortable wearing the 3-Stripes on the course and can’t wait for what’s ahead.”
For more than two years, Zhang has held the top spot in women’s amateur golf. She’s a two-time AJGA Player of the Year (2019, 2020) and has represented the United States on the Junior Solheim Cup(2017, 2019), Junior Ryder Cup(2018) and Curtis Cup(2021) teams, all of which were victorious. Perhaps her biggest triumph to date, at just 17 years old, Rose became the first woman in history to win the U.S. Women’s Amateur (2020) before winning the U.S. Girls’ Junior (2021).
“We are happy to officially welcome Rose to the adidas family,” said Rupert Campbell, president of adidas North America. “Rose embodies a winning Impossible is Nothing attitude on the golf course and we’re excited to start this new chapter of working with student-athletes.”
This week marks Rose’s fourth consecutive start at the U.S. Women’s Open, having qualified as an amateur for every championship since 2019.
“Rose is an extraordinary athlete, a class-act both on and off the golf course and is determined to be the best in the world every single day,” said Tim McNulty, global director of sports marketing, adidas Golf. “Having Rose join team adidas is something we’ve been looking forward to for quite some time, and we look forward to supporting her as she continues to make her mark on women’s golf around the world.”
While Rose is the first student-athlete to sign a NIL endorsement agreement with adidas, this is just the start. The brand will share more soon about the first wave of Rose’s fellow individual women student-athletes who are joining team adidas and how adidas is investing in equality initiatives aimed at increasing awareness and representation to make sport accessible to all.
