The NFLPA has awarded the 2023 Licensee of the Year honors to StatusPro, TrophySmack, and The Licensee Content Studio at NFLPA Collegiate Bowl.

Introduced by the NFLPA in 2015, these annual awards celebrate licensees who have displayed exceptional creativity and success in utilizing NFL player group licensing rights throughout the year.

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LAS VEGAS – StatusPro, a sports technology and gaming company, TrophySmack, an e-commerce company selling customizable fan products, and The Licensee Content Studio at NFLPA Collegiate Bowl have been recognized as NFLPA Licensees of the Year. Introduced by the NFLPA in 2015, these annual awards celebrate licensees who have displayed exceptional creativity and success in utilizing NFL player group licensing rights throughout the year.

  • Best Breakout Product: StatusPro, Inc. unveiled NFL Pro Era, an innovative virtual reality (VR) simulation game that incorporates real player data. This groundbreaking title, co-licensed by the NFL and NFLPA, provides fans with an extraordinary first-person 3D immersive football experience. Notably, it is the first game of its kind to be developed by athletes themselves.
  • Best Use of Group Player Rights: Since partnering with the NFLPA in 2021, TrophySmack has revolutionized Fantasy Sports by offering a wide range of distinctive and customizable products including trophies, rings, championship belts, tattoos, and more. TrophySmack successfully incorporated the participation of over 500 players in the creation of fantasy football draft board kits, further enhancing the overall experience.
  • Best Player Activations: The Licensee Content Studio by the NFLPA and OneTeam Partners presented an opportunity at the 2023 NFLPA Collegiate Bowl for licensees to create valuable content marketing their services and NFL player products in an efficient and economical way. Seven partners participated – Fanatics, Draftea, Signables, All Goat Puzzles, Original Retro Brand, CultureFly and Open Road Brands – and collaborated with 22 players.

“Our portfolio of licensing partners is filled with remarkable individuals who bring innovation and excitement to the table. It's essential to recognize the products, marketing initiatives, and overall outcomes that have surpassed our highest expectations,” said Terése Whitehead, VP of Consumer Products & Strategy at NFL Players Inc. “This year’s winners, StatusPro, TrophySmack and our content studio partners exemplified creativity and inclusivity in harnessing the potential of NFL players and our group rights.”

A panel of NFLPA licensing executives evaluated licensees on several criteria: number of unique players featured within the licensees’ product lines; marketing and promotional activations that featured players throughout the year; creativity and innovation in product development; licensees’ positive development of players’ rights; and the range of distribution and growth in annual financial performance.

As a major and influential licensor globally, the NFLPA, via its for-profit marketing and licensing business NFL Players Inc., represents the exclusive group player licensing rights of over 2,000 active NFL players through more than 90 licensees. Their efforts have resulted in impressive achievements, including a record-breaking $300 million in revenue last year and a staggering $2.75 billion in retail sales across various licensing categories. By leveraging the exclusive group player rights, which encompass names, images, likenesses, uniform numbers, signatures, photographs, original art, voices, biographical data, and other intellectual property, licensees can create highly appealing products that resonate with consumers in the apparel, hardlines, and digital realms.

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