Most Elite Personal Brands From Competitive Wrestlers #1: Jordan Oliver (Team USA Olympian)
Athletes looking for NIL opportunities should position themselves by creating a visual identity before the search for brands and sponsors. Competition is always an athlete’s primary focus. Most of the early NIL deals were signed by national champions for a reason. However, developing a personal brand for your fan base and community should be a priority as your brand is how you will leverage your success on the mat. Fans willing to pay for merchandise and experiences is what makes sports financially sustainable. Fans are willing to spend on their favorite athletes but only if it’s merch they are proud to wear. They want to have good style options while supporting the cause but the reason for a strong brand identity is greater than merchandise. Most wrestlers won’t make significant money from t shirts and the like. Wrestlers are more likely to make money from their intellectual property. That is, wrestlers will earn from teaching their personal styles either in camp settings, lower schools, private lessons or on any of the new media platforms that allow monetization. Making a strong personal brand is about standing out and showing the market that you are creating a quality product even if the product is instructional. This series of articles will showcase competitive wrestlers with the strongest brands that we would wear and wrestling camps where we would be proud to send our kids. Our first article will be the Oklahoma State Cowboy Jordan Oliver. While he is a 4x former Big12 champion, 2x national champion and an Olympian he leads this list for his off mat choices: Creating a stylish brand that compliments his on the mat persona.
Jordan Oliver “Slime Season"
You know Jordan Oliver’s branding is working because as his match approaches the only thought that pops into my head is “it’s slime season.” It might be a wacky theme to create an athlete identity around, but what part of Oliver isn’t wacky. He has taken a fun theme and reworked classic elements like the American flag into his slime world. As an Olympian it’s no wonder Oliver has a lot of swag. His brand also has a lot of consistency and visual appeal.
Merch is very popular for wrestlers. Oliver uses the slime green color across four pieces. The fluid slime green is reminiscent of his poster. His iconic slime flag is featured on the headgear.
6JO slime singlet
Jordan Oliver American slime sticker from Sticker Mule.
