Rose Zhang Becomes The First College Athlete To Sign With Addidas

In a first for shoe giant Addidas, 19-year-old freshman Stanford golfer Rose Zhang becomes the first college athlete to be signed to a name, likeness and image endorsement deal.

The Holiday weekend was an amazing time for the best amateur female golfer in the world. Her Stanford golf team won the NCAA team competition, and she won the individual event at the NCAA Championships at Grayhawk Golf Club. On Tuesday, her 19th birthday, she won the ANNIKA award, given to the player of the year in women's college golf.

Addidas announced in late March that they were diving into the name, likeness, and image endorsement game, to create "a more equitable future in sport."

In their press release announcing the new program, they stated: "With the ability to reach over 50,000 student-athletes across 23 sports and 109 Division1 NCAA schools, the new NIL program will give eligible student-athletes of all genders the opportunity, directly with Adidas, to become paid affiliate brand ambassadors.

Launching in four phases over the next 12 months, the network will begin with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Power-5 conference partners in Fall 2022, scaling across all schools by April 2023."

Addidas press release

Rose Zhang is the first athlete that Addidas has chosen to represent their brand. She heads to Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club in Southern Pines, NC this week to take on the best women's golfers in the world in the 2022 U.S. Open Women's Open Championship.