Caleb Downs is teaming up with a pair of Cornell University graduates to launch an app that they believe will streamline the process of acquiring NIL deals for Ohio State athletes.
Launchpoint, a platform that allows companies to directly offer college athletes NIL deals through a mobile application, officially launched Wednesday for Ohio State athletes. According to Tristan Rhee, who designed the app with his college roommate Adam Barr-Neuwirth, more than 250 companies have signed up for the platform, which Ohio State athletes will be able to sign up for and have offers sent to them via mobile notifications.
Rhee expects Launchpoint to make the process of landing endorsement deals more efficient for Ohio State athletes.
“So the current model right now is athletes kind of have to do cold outreach on their own, in their own free time. They have to reach out to different brands and they have to market themselves,” Rhee told Eleven Warriors. “And quite frankly, student-athletes are some of the most busy people on the planet. They have to go from class to practice, to film study, to different meals, team meetings. And so really we saw this as an opportunity to take all that work off of their plate. And so all they have to do, it's really as simple as download an app, create a profile and the deals start coming to them.”
After hatching the idea to create an NIL app, Rhee and Barr-Neuwirth sought to add a college athlete to their team to help them build the app. So they reached out to Downs, who accepted their offer to become a co-founder of Launchpoint because he felt there was a need for athletes to have an easier way to connect with brands.
“I feel like it can make NIL better for athletes because the app is easier to use for athletes and athletes can connect directly with the brand instead of going through their school,” Downs told Eleven Warriors. “A lot of those companies, you don't have a real way to communicate with them directly. So the best way to find a way to communicate with them directly is to hone it all into one app.”
Tristan Rhee and Caleb Downs (Courtesy of Tristan Rhee)
A Columbus native, Rhee said he was inspired to create Launchpoint by his father, who he said always thought college athletes should be paid before dying unexpectedly last year. A lifelong Ohio State fan, Rhee said he specifically wanted to find a way to help OSU athletes, prompting the partnership with Downs, who is already one of Ohio State’s most notable players entering his first season as a Buckeye after earning national freshman of the year honors last year at Alabama.
Launchpoint is currently only available to Ohio State athletes, though the app plans to roll out at Florida, Georgia, Texas and USC later this fall.
While Rhee and Barr-Neuwirth are leading the day-to-day operations of Launchpoint as Downs prepares for the start of Ohio State’s football season, Rhee said Downs is playing an integral role in marketing the app to athletes both at Ohio State and throughout the country.
“We know that Caleb has a really large following of fans but he also has a lot of other fellow athletes who look up to him and who see him as an example,” Rhee said. “And I think his big thing was, he was really disappointed with the options, the tech options out there for him and his fellow athletes. And he wanted to be a part of the solution. And so this is something that's really important to him. Obviously he's a big athlete advocate, coming from a family of athletes, being an athlete himself. And he really wanted to partner with something that he can show other athletes and he can demonstrate for them that this is way better than what's out there and this is part of the solution.”
Athletes: Download @Launchpointhq in the App Store today. Use code BETA to sign up
— Caleb Downs (@caleb_downs2) August 18, 2024
Brands: If you want to work with me or my teammates, sign up at https://t.co/GyvxQ9B0vX @launchpointhq
Launching August 21st! pic.twitter.com/eKJ9Dk45uh
Launchpoint isn’t the only app that connects college athletes with brands for NIL deals. Ohio State operates its own NIL marketplace for athletes through Opendorse, a similar app that allows athletes to connect with brands and sell autographs, event appearances, video shoutouts and social media posts. That said, Rhee believes Launchpoint can distinguish itself within the NIL marketplace because of its ease of use and business model, which allows brands to connect with hundreds of athletes at once and pay by the number of views their posts generate.
While Launchpoint does not have a direct partnership with Ohio State, Rhee says the OSU athletic department has been receptive to and supportive of the app.
“We have their full support. Obviously, they're very supportive of anyone who's trying to help their athletes. We're very aligned in that regard. We just want to see the athletes win and we want to see the athletes make as much money as they can,” Rhee said. “The really exciting part about this is that Ohio State athletes get access to this. And if you're an athlete at Michigan or Michigan State or Penn State right now, you can't download it. So we really see this as a really big competitive advantage for the schools that we roll out in. And we look forward to continuing to work with Ohio State and work with them to really try to build this for the total benefit of their athletes.”
Rhee said more than $15,000 worth of deals had already been booked on the platform before its official launch and that he expects every Ohio State athlete who signs up for Launchpoint to be offered multiple NIL deals.
Barr-Neuwirth and Rhee are both working full-time on Launchpoint with the belief that it will become a leading NIL marketplace for college athletes. Downs, who will be using the app to land NIL deals for himself in addition to encouraging other athletes to do so, said his vision is for Launchpoint to “take over the space in terms of NIL.” As the launch begins, however, Rhee said he and his team are focusing on what the app can do for athletes rather than how much money they can make.
“We don't really try to see it as a business right now. We see it more as like, if we help as many people as we think we can help, the money will come later and we're not really worried about that,” Rhee said. “So right now, we're mostly worried about just adding value, being valuable, being an asset to the athletes, being an asset to the brands, really helping them accomplish their goals.”
Ohio State athletes can download Launchpoint by visiting Apple’s App Store. More information about the app can also be found on Launchpoint’s Instagram and X pages.
