Stanford University national champion golfer Rose Zhang becomes Adidas' 1st NIL partner. | Image courtesy of Adidas
Stanford University student-athlete Rose Zhang earned both an individual and a team golf national championship earlier this year. Now she’s experiencing another historic accolade as she gains a multi-year contract with Adidas, becoming the company’s first NIL endorsement partner.
As part of her deal, Zhang will represent Adidas both on and off the course in all competition, training, and other play outside her university team obligations. She will also be featured in brand marketing campaigns promoting the newest products in golf apparel and footwear.
In a news release from Adidas, Zhang says “Adidas has been a major part of some of my biggest wins as an amateur, so this is an exciting moment for me. I’m most comfortable wearing the 3-Stripes on the course and can’t wait for what’s ahead.”
Earlier this year, adidas announced the first wide-sweeping, equitable and inclusive NIL network reaching more than 50,000 eligible student-athletes across 23 sports and all genders at 109 D1 universities. Today’s announcement moves the brand into the next phase of its NIL program as adidas begins to welcome individual student-athletes as brand ambassadors, the first group of whom will be women competing in multiple different sports.
Zhang is a Stanford freshman from Irvine, California. In addition to her two national championships on her long list of accolades, she was the 2021 U.S. Girls’ Junior champion, and the 2020 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion. She’ll compete at the U.S. Women’s Open this week. She’s qualified as an amateur in that competition every year since 2019.
