A Collaboration between OSU NIL and Performance AI Forging New Pathways

Web3 adoption is sweeping across industries, and the college athletic market is on the brink of an exciting revival. Learn below how Performance AI is shaping the industry today.

In March, Performance AI partnered with Pokes With A Purpose (PWAP), a Name-Image-Likeness Collectives tied to Oklahoma State University (OSU), to launch digital collectibles collections. Performance AI provided a simple Shopify-like portal for tokenizing the images and an e-commerce-like web page with OSU-brand assets through which the customer could purchase the collectibles. The portal was also set up as a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool, allowing for the management of transactions and fees.

PWAP used Performance AI tools to deliver a 12,000 supply collection of 22 athletes with different traits and backgrounds and an exceptional pack-opening mint experience. Customers engage through a user-friendly website, with no need for crypto knowledge or wallets, and they can follow updates through a very active social media presence managed through Performance AI guidelines.

Crafting Experiences, Elevating Moments

The real value of any collectible program is its benefit to the community. With this in mind, Performance AI guided PWAP on crafting compelling multi-tiered perks and experiences that support different levels of OK State collectible ownership.

Behind each revolutionary project, there exists a strong ‘why.’ The Name Image Likeness (NIL) collectives, including PWAP, are sensing increasing pressure to raise donation targets while experiencing donor fatigue. If the NIL collectives do not meet funding targets, the university risks seeing athletes enter the transfer portal to switch universities—clearly, a new way to incentivize small-size donors and support the student-athletes needed to be built. Performance AI is supporting NILs to do just that, helping the OSU community buy digital cards of their favorite players and providing a novel revenue resource for the NIL. Families and friends could opt into selecting their athlete friend or family member directly, while the typical fans could buy a surprise pack of cards and get to support the players across the board.

Signs of Success and Future Plans

The program was launched on July 7th, a time with no school in session and vacation time for many. Yet, the program generated over $10K in the first month alone in digital card sales, indicating the power of OSU athletic fanbases. In addition, most people came to the site with an intention to purchase — over 85% of the wallets created purchased at least one digital collectible.

“The Performance AI team members are subject matter experts in all the technical aspects of our program and provided great advice throughout the start-up and development phases of the project.” — David Downing, Managing Director of Pokes With A Purpose (OKState NIL), said.

It was incredibly exciting to see such progress by PWAP, and Performance AI was there every step of the way. We met with them daily to touch on updates, sometimes including weekends, to offer support and resolve any issues or doubts. PWAP plans to continue marketing efforts as the football season kicks off and launch a larger collection in the fall.

If you love college sports and want to support OSU, grab a collectible yourself! Legends and players are still available at www.okstatetokens.com

If you are a NIL collective exploring if this is the right fit for you, give us a shout: Performance AI