Elite athletes often become household names as their career flourishes. Most star college athletes become well-known when they become professionals, and their team allows them to profit from licensed products and merchandise. But a recent National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) policy announced in 2021 now allows college athletes to profit from their name, image, and likeness before their professional run. This new policy raises awareness about student-athletes while allowing them to earn additional income from licensed merchandise. The company Athlete’s Thread is already making the most of this new NCAA policy by helping college athletes license their name, image, and likeness and produce merch through a streamlined process.
Athlete’s Thread was cofounded by Luke McGurrin and Karthik Shanadi. This company was born in response to what McGurrin and Shanadi observed following the announcement of the new NCAA policy. “Most companies were only working with the star athletes at each school,” Shanadi explained, “So Luke and I created Athlete’s Thread as an easy way for every athlete on campus to make money off their name, image, and likeness regardless of their team or social following.”
Campus athletes who want to launch personalized merch with Athlete’s Thread will accomplish that goal through online stores. The team at Athlete’s Thread will launch a microstore for the athlete with 8-12 products with licensed designs. “We can launch with every college athlete within three days of signing on with a college team,” McGurrin said.
Athlete’s Thread also aims to help student-athletes tell their story. Most of the time, it takes fame for people to learn about athletes. But all collegiate athletes deserve a platform for their stories, which Athlete’s Thread can help them with. “We believe that if you’re a student-athlete, you’re already a hometown hero and have a huge community behind you that would love to support you. What we really want to do is help all of these students realize how much they have accomplished and be the driving force to not only get their story out but help them be successful,” McGurrin said.
Currently, there are over 2,000 athletes from 12 colleges who have launched personalized merch through Athlete’s Thread. And 58 colleges are set to launch licensed merch for their athletes. A notable name includes Bryce Young, a Heisman Trophy Winner. In addition, breakout athletes Trashon Holden, Jahmy Gibbs, and Jalen Milroe have also launched products with Athlete’s Thread.
Athlete’s Thread has everything a student-athlete needs to launch their personalized and licensed merch line. Co-founder McGurrin said, “We are trying to demystify the name, image and licensing process and make it extremely easy for the athletes to the point where we’re essentially removing their risk. As a result, we make the overwhelming process of licensing compliances and taxes less complicated for our collegiate athletes, so they can focus on their game while we can help set them up for success off the court.”
Luke McGurrin and Karthik Shanadi’s success with Athlete’s Thread is a result of several years of experience in collegiate apparel. The entrepreneurial duo is also behind other companies such as Greek House, College Thread, and Threadly. Greek House served fraternities and sororities by helping them with custom apparel for their organizations. McGurrin and Shanadi then expanded their services to all student organizations and college departments through College Thread. And with Threadly, the duo stepped outside the academe to provide custom apparel for any organization, such as businesses, non-profit organizations, and churches.
Athlete’s Thread is just the beginning. McGurrin and Shanadi aim to be leaders in the sports merchandise industry. “And we will get there, one athlete and collegiate team at a time,” Shanadi said.
