MILWAUKEE, Wis. – In collaboration with Opendorse, Milwaukee has launched MKE Connect, the Panthers' official Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) marketplace for student-athletes.
 
Powered by Opendorse, MKE Connect gives Panthers fans, supporters, and local organizations and businesses a platform to access hundreds of student-athlete profiles and pitch those they are interested in pursuing for NIL and future opportunities.
 
Current Panthers student-athletes can be found and contacted using MKE Connect among the 95,000 athletes worldwide using the Opendorse platform.
 
"This is an exciting step in our growing efforts to support our student-athletes during their time both at Milwaukee and for the future," Director of Athletics Amanda Braun commented. "We appreciate our partner, Opendorse, for helping to make this a reality and encourage our supporters to take advantage of MKE Connect to build relationships with our student-athletes."
 
Every Milwaukee student-athlete will receive an Opendorse profile, which they can customize and promote on their personal social media channels. They can review opportunities, receive deals, accept compensation, and disclose NIL actives to the University, all within the Opendorse app. 
 
"The Panthers are ready to take the NIL era by storm," said Opendorse senior director of collegiate partnerships Tim Pederson. "Today's launch of MKE Connect is the next step to maximizing opportunities for every athlete. Now, any fan or brand can confidently offer compliant NIL deals to their favorite Panthers in just seconds." 
 
The launch of MKE Connect comes as a result of the Horizon League announcing a league-wide partnership with Opendorse earlier this year.
 
In addition to the new marketplace, Milwaukee student-athletes will benefit from this partnership with Opendorse and its best-in-class tool for content delivery, social media assessments and analytics, and access to hundreds of education tools.
 
For more information on MKE Connect, contact Cody Bohl (bohl@uwm.edu).
 
About Opendorse
Opendorse, the NIL company, is the leading technology provider in the athlete endorsement industry. More than 95,000 athletes use Opendorse to understand, build, and monetize their name, image, and likeness (NIL) with support from thousands of brands, fans, sponsors, donors and partners including Team USA, PGA TOUR, NFLPA, MLBPA, WNBPA, LPGA, over 100 professional and collegiate sports teams.