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Welcome back to the Tigers Football Insider, where we bring you the latest news and analysis from The Daily Memphian’s Frank Bonner II, Geoff Calkins and John Martin each week.
901 Fund founder Clay Presley is always thinking about ways to help the University of Memphis student-athletes capitalize on name, image and likeness opportunities.
After getting great reviews from a hat the 901 created with the logo of a hand making an M to represent Memphis, Presley started thinking about other ways to help uplift the brand of the student-athletes.
“What’s a way to help a player raise their profile,” Presley said. “Raise their brand. Make a little money but feel good, feel cool. We’ll let’s see if we can make some designs for them. I pulled up the roster and started to look at some of the names and see what kind of ideas I could come up with.”
Presley’s wife Ashley is an artist, so he asked her to draw up some designs.
“She got excited about it and it just kind of took off from there.”
The 901 Fund was able to turn those ideas into an entire online merchandise store using the likeness of football players. Basketball products are expected to come soon. Fans can support their favorite football player by purchasing a “Hennything is Possible” t-shirt in support of quarterback Seth Henigan. They can also buy “Big Cam” shirts in support of defensive lineman Cam’Ron Jackson. There are different designs for multiple players on the roster.
The t-shirts are listed at $30 and the youth shirts are $24. The M hand hats are also $30 with the hoodies and sweaters listing at $52 on the website. Presley said they can come up with as many designs and color options as they want because they don’t have to buy the inventory upfront.
They work with a local company called Grind City Designs and a percentage of sales goes to the athletes. Presley said having to buy inventory is a significant investment, so not having to shoulder that financial burden made it easier to get the apparel store off the ground. It also helps that Ashley was able to make the majority of the designs.
You can find the website here.
“We wanted to show them some love and show them that we’re thinking about how to maximize the value of their NIL,” Presley said. “If we can trade a little hard work and hustle to make some of these kids feel good and be excited to have their name on some apparel, and see it on a website that they can share with their friends and family and other fans. Hopefully, people buy it and they make a little bit of money but it’s cool to have your own design on your own t-shirt.”
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