Emerald Athletic Group

We Broker Local NIL

*Attorney review first. Parents co-sign. School marks stay out.

Adult athlete in a dark gym holding a basketball

Seattle High School NIL

A local brokerage for compliant, parent-approved athlete campaigns.

Emerald Athletic Group matches Seattle-area brands with vetted D1-track prospects, then handles scoping, contracting, payment, parent consent, content review, and the compliance checklist before anything goes live.

Built for Local Brands

Fitness + Training

Run a local athlete campaign without hunting through DMs.

Gyms, studios, trainers, and performance businesses get a vetted prospect, a scoped brief, and a clean deliverable list.

Food + Retail

Turn neighborhood attention into a compliant appearance or post.

Restaurants, retail shops, apparel, and service businesses can buy a campaign that feels local, not rented from a national influencer marketplace.

Services + Auto

Get the marketing upside while the brokerage handles the risk surface.

Orthodontics, real estate, dealerships, and healthcare-adjacent buyers get category screening, content review, and parent-signature workflow.

Brokerage Model

The product is the managed path between buyer, athlete, and parent.

Emerald is not a public marketplace. It is a high-touch operating desk that turns local brand demand into structured, documented, and reviewable NIL work.

Brand-side buyer

Local businesses buy a clear campaign brief, not access to a public athlete database.

Emerald in the middle

The brokerage scopes, contracts, collects payment, reviews content, and releases athlete payment after delivery.

Family gatekeeper

Parents co-sign, category exclusions are respected, and school identifiers stay out of the work.

Adult athlete walking from a dark fieldhouse tunnel toward a lit court

Compliance First

Adult athlete seated in dark arena seating

The Trust Product

The guardrails are the business.

Washington permits high school NIL, but the operating model only works if every deal avoids school IP, school-connected inducements, performance pay, prohibited categories, missing parent signatures, and undisclosed sponsored content.

Deal Flow

1. Brand Brief

A local buyer scopes category, budget, channels, deliverables, usage, exclusivity, and timing.

2. Athlete Match

Emerald proposes one to three vetted D1-track prospects from a private, parent-consented roster.

3. Contract + Pay

Brand pays Emerald up front; the athlete is paid after delivery and a written compliance review.

Operating Model

Attorney Gate Before Athlete Signatures

The brokerage structure, parent signature model, minor-contract posture, and WIAA reading need Washington counsel before launch.

Parent Trust Is the Supply-Side Moat

Eligibility, workload, taxes, reputation, category exclusions, and social disclosure need to feel plain-English and adult.

Concierge First. Platform Later.

No custom portal before 30 hand-brokered deals. The first product is a disciplined operating system.

Compliance Gate

Close-up of an abstract social post review on a phone near a basketball court

Written Review

Every deal stops here until it clears.

Enforcement may be reactive, but one eligibility incident is enough to end the business. Emerald reviews the buyer, contract, deliverables, content, disclosure, in-kind value, and parent approval before a brand gets the athlete's NIL.

0 of 8 gates cleared

No school uniform, logo, mascot, marks, or team identifiers No school employee, booster, or school-affiliated buyer sourcing the deal No performance-based compensation language No prohibited brand category Parent or legal guardian signature obtained FTC disclosure language confirmed before publishing In-kind value remains below the WIAA per-sport annual cap No use of NIL in connection with the athlete's high school

Close-up of an adult athlete at a wet track start line

Agency Posture

The agent question is a launch gate, not fine print.

Emerald can present the managed service, but the operating model does not sign athletes until counsel confirms the representation structure. If needed, Emerald can start as a brand-side agency of record while parent approval and compliance review remain mandatory.

Counsel sets the posture

Before launch, a Washington attorney decides whether Emerald represents athletes, brands, or both under a tightly limited structure.

Parents stay in the loop

Every athlete-side agreement is co-signed and every campaign is approved before a buyer gets access to NIL.

School ties are screened out

The operating desk checks school affiliation, inducement risk, category fit, and content context before a deal advances.

Phase 0

No platform before proof.

The business starts with legal review and calls. If the right parents and brands do not say yes to a hand-brokered version, there is no reason to build a portal, athlete app, or marketplace.

Attorney consult

Confirm the brokerage and representation structure with Washington counsel before signing athletes.

15 brand calls

Test willingness to pay with Seattle fitness, food, retail, services, and auto businesses.

10 parent calls

Find the trust gate, time concerns, category objections, and no-go conditions.

Decision gate

Proceed only if 3 brands and 2 parents say yes contingent on a real counterparty.