By John Brice
Special Contributor
Kiki Van Zanten had heard from her friends on both coasts of the United States, and even from international acquaintances in Mexico.
Notre Dame’s senior women’s soccer star never forgot the first person to reach out to her after Van Zanten teamed with both her school and its official apparel ambassador, Under Armour, for a marketing and Name, Image and Likeness opportunity that yielded a global reach.
“It was my mom who saw me first in a Dick’s Sporting Goods and she made the employees take down the sign so that she could take a picture with it and send it to me,” said Van Zanten, a Chicagoland native from Buffalo Grove, Illinois. “I felt kind of bad for the employees, but it is exciting to see myself recognized.
“Later it was by more and more people in a larger circle. It was really exciting to see the power of NIL reach so many different aspects of my life that didn’t involve sports. I reconnected with people I hadn’t spoken with in a while just because they saw the image.”
Eventually, Van Zanten – a former prep All-America selection and member of the prestigious U17 Women’s National Team – had friends reach out from Boston, New York and Malibu because they saw her images that adorned walls in brick-and-mortar stores or Under Armour commercials.
“I saw a commercial of myself running around the lakes at Notre Dame for the release of the shoe,” Van Zanten, with 75 career games for the Irish and 47 points, said. “I saw it in Spanish in Mexico. It was really amazing to see myself in all these different cool places and have so many friends and family reaching out to me and sending me pictures of myself on a wall saying, ‘Is this you?’ and being like, ‘Yeah, that actually is me.’ It has my name in the corner, they took some quotes from me as well. I felt super-important and inspired by it.”
Because the NIL opportunity matched the synergistic relationship of Notre Dame and Under Armour, Van Zanten – who was joined for the session by other Fighting Irish athletes, including member of Marcus Freeman’s football program – knew from the outset that the event could harness her own personal brand with her school’s iconic imagery and Under Armour’s global reach.
“I was so grateful for the opportunity and it meant a lot more to me; it wasn’t just Under Armour and Kiki, but it was Under Armour and Notre Dame and Kiki,” she said. “Notre Dame stands for a lot. They have a lot of history, strong academics and strong athletics. So many people are inspired by Notre Dame and I wanted to put my best foot forward and try to mimic that and capture that with this project. I was super-grateful that they chose me to represent that and I’ll be forever grateful to Notre Dame.”
View this post on Instagram
Van Zanten also will readily share her positive NIL experiences as a Fighting Irish student-athlete. She’s had the global exposure from the UA shoot and has become quite the fan of her city’s Southside squad – Major League Baseball’s White Sox – all as part of her personal-branding opportunities
“I’ve been surprised by the amount of contracts and products that companies are willing to give out to student-athletes with platforms,” Van Zanten said. “They really want to, when you’re working with the right company, help build your brand while promoting their product. I have turned down some things in the past, just because I felt like they weren’t right for me, but the brands I’ve worked with have all been amazing.
“One of my favorites was the Chicago White Sox. They did an NIL program for Chicago-based athletes. I got to throw out a first pitch, invite a bunch of family and friends and they gave me a box suite. It was amazing, such a cool experience. I actually had never been to a baseball game before that, and they wanted to bring in Chicago area athletes and help them grow their brand, impact their circles and bring them to the White Sox family. I’m now a White Sox fan and I wasn’t before.”
View this post on Instagram
Similarly, Van Zanten has marked steadfast support from Notre Dame along her NIL path.
“Notre Dame has been great with their resources,” she said. “Any time I’ve had a question, I’ve just called Claire (Venard), one of our NIL directors, and any time I’ve had a question, she’s had the answer for me. I’ve submitted contracts that they’ve looked over for me and made sure that I was protected.
“I had Zoom calls with a representative from a brand and a Notre Dame representative to make sure that I was being properly represented. They’ve just been an amazing resource to help me stay eligible and protect my image and also make sure I’m not being taken advantage of.”
Quite the opposite; Van Zanten has now built the foundation of a personal brand that she has cultivated for a greater purpose.
“I would love for my brand to get to a point where I’m able to empower women,” she said. “I think that’s really important to empower women in sports and using my platform to endorse companies that have that same message. I just feel like I want it to be something that I’m proud of.”