WWE® Adds 15 College Athletes to NIL Program
June 13 2022 - 10:00AM
Business Wire
WWE (NYSE: WWE) today unveiled 15 college athletes who will join
the company’s NIL (Name, Image & Likeness) program – “Next In
Line™” – that provides a clear pathway from collegiate athletics to
WWE.
The second “Next In Line” class includes athletes from 14
universities, seven NCAA conferences and seven sports, including
the program’s first athletes from cheer & dance, gymnastics,
volleyball, men’s basketball and representation from an HBCU
program.
The following 15 athletes will be unveiled later this evening at
the inaugural NIL Summit at the College Football Hall of Fame in
Atlanta:
Name
School
Sport
Height/Weight
Hometown
Ali Mattox
Ole Miss
Cheer & Dance
5’ 7”
Little Rock, Ark.
Case Hatch
Arizona State
Football
6’ 1”, 230 lbs.
Gilbert, Ariz.
Chandler Hayden
Tennessee
Track & Field
5’ 11”
Pittsfield, Ill.
Cohlton Schultz
Arizona State
Wrestling
6’ 2”, 285 lbs.
Parker, Colo.
Derrian Gobourne
Auburn
Gymnastics
5’ 4”
Sarasota, Fla.
Ericka Link
Elon
Volleyball
5’ 6”
Hedgesville, W.Va.
Keshaun Moore
Hampton
Football
6’ 3”, 270 lbs.
Suffolk, Va.
Luke Ford
Illinois
Football
6’ 6”, 260 lbs.
Carterville, Ill.
Maliq Carr
Michigan State
Football/Basketball
6’ 5”, 245 lbs.
Inkster, Mich.
Mikala Hall
Central Michigan
Basketball
5’ 5”
Danville, Ill.
Rachel Glenn
South Carolina
Track & Field
6’ 0”
Long Beach, Calif.
Ruben Banks
Arkansas
Track & Field
6’ 4”, 270 lbs.
Binfield, England
Thunder Keck
Stanford
Football
6’ 3”, 245 lbs.
Northfield, N.H.
Tyanna Omazic
Miami
Volleyball
6’ 2”
Kansas City, Mo.
Zachary Knighton-Ward
Hofstra
Wrestling
6’ 2”, 285 lbs.
Rosedale, N.Y.
WWE’s comprehensive NIL program launched in December and serves
to recruit and develop potential future Superstars, and further
enhances WWE’s talent development process through collaborative
partnerships with college athletes from diverse athletic
backgrounds. “Next In Line” has signed 31 full-time college
athletes since its inception and currently has 25 active athletes
following the graduation of six inaugural members from the
program.
All athlete partnerships will feature access to the
state-of-the-art WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Fla., in
addition to resources across the organization including brand
building, media training, communications, live event promotion,
creative writing and community relations. Upon completion of the
NIL program, select athletes may earn an exclusive opportunity to
be offered a WWE contract. All six athletes who graduated from the
first class have either signed or are in discussion to join WWE on
a full-time basis.
Four of the 16 initial members of WWE’s “Next In Line” program
are nominated for awards at the NIL Summit including Olympic gold
medalist Gable Steveson (University of Minnesota) for Male Athlete
of the Year, Haley & Hanna Cavinder (University of Miami) for
Female Athlete of the Year and Jon Seaton (Elon University) for the
Hustle Award. Additionally, WWE is a finalist for Brand of the
Year.
For more information about the inaugural NIL Summit, held June
13-15 at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, visit
nilsummit.com. Learn more about the “Next In Line” program at
wwerecruit.com.
About WWE
WWE, a publicly traded company (NYSE: WWE), is an integrated
media organization and recognized leader in global entertainment.
The Company consists of a portfolio of businesses that create and
deliver original content 52 weeks a year to a global audience. WWE
is committed to family-friendly entertainment on its television
programming, premium live events, digital media, and publishing
platforms. WWE’s TV-PG programming can be seen in more than 1
billion homes worldwide in 30 languages through world-class
distribution partners including NBCUniversal, FOX Sports, BT Sport,
Sony India, and Rogers. The award-winning WWE Network includes all
premium live events, scheduled programming and a massive
video-on-demand library and is currently available in more than 180
countries. In the United States, NBCUniversal’s streaming service,
Peacock, is the exclusive home to WWE Network.
Additional information on WWE can be found at wwe.com and
corporate.wwe.com.
Trademarks: All WWE programming,
talent names, images, likenesses, slogans, wrestling moves,
trademarks, logos, and copyrights are the exclusive property of WWE
and its subsidiaries. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights
are the property of their respective owners.
Forward-Looking Statements: This
press release contains forward-looking statements pursuant to the
safe harbor provisions of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995, which are subject to various risks and uncertainties. These
risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, risks relating
to: the COVID-19 outbreak, which may continue to affect negatively
world economies as well as our industry, business and results of
operations; entering, maintaining and renewing major distribution
and licensing agreements; a rapidly evolving and highly competitive
media landscape; WWE Network; computer systems, content delivery
and online operations of our Company and our business partners;
privacy norms and regulations; our need to continue to develop
creative and entertaining programs and events; our need to retain
and continue to recruit key performers; the possibility of a
decline in the popularity of our brand of sports entertainment; the
possible unexpected loss of the services of Vincent K. McMahon;
possible adverse changes in the regulatory atmosphere and related
private sector initiatives; the highly competitive, rapidly
changing and increasingly fragmented nature of the markets in which
we operate and/or our inability to compete effectively, especially
against competitors with greater financial resources or marketplace
presence; uncertainties associated with international markets
including possible disruptions and reputational risks; our
difficulty or inability to promote and conduct our live events
and/or other businesses if we do not comply with applicable
regulations; our dependence on our intellectual property rights,
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of others’ intellectual property rights; the complexity of our
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expansion into new or complementary businesses, strategic
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key jurisdictions; our feature film business; a possible decline in
general economic conditions and disruption in financial markets
including any resulting from COVID-19; our indebtedness including
our convertible notes; our potential failure to meet market
expectations for our financial performance; Vincent K. McMahon
exercises control over our affairs, and his interests may conflict
with the holders of our Class A common stock; our share repurchase
program; a substantial number of shares are eligible for sale by
the McMahons and the sale, or the perception of possible sales, of
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historical and projected cash flow, strategic plan (including
alternative uses of capital), our financial results and condition,
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(including under our revolving credit facility), general economic
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220613005480/en/
Media: Greg Domino 973-620-1025
Greg.Domino@wwecorp.com Investor Seth
Zaslow 203-352-1026 Seth.Zaslow@wwecorp.com
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