00 The Infrastructure Thesis for College Sports
Owning the
fan relationship.
A scalable college sports infrastructure platform for identity, engagement, and commerce.
01 The Problem
Schools don't own the fan relationship. Vendors do.
The infrastructure that monetizes fans is controlled by vendors, not schools.
What schools rent
The dependencies.
Ticketing platforms↳ vendor
Sponsorship representation↳ vendor
Web & app vendors↳ vendor
NIL marketplaces↳ vendor
CRM systems↳ vendor
What they don't own
The value.
First-party fan identity◆ core
Persistent engagement history◆ core
Unified data — tickets · media · commerce◆ core
Direct-to-fan monetization engine◆ core
As a result, engagement is fragmented. Revenue does not compound.
02 Case Study · Utah 360
Where this started.
A direct-to-fan platform built with Utah Athletics — proving identity, engagement, and monetization could live in one system.
50K
Verified fans
of 350K addressable
80%
Monthly active rate
across registered users
20
Integrated surfaces
content · commerce · social
What it proved
Fans will consolidate around a team-owned surface if the experience is unified, personalized, and rewarding.
Where it hit limits
Monetization stalled against fragmented identity, ticketing vendors, and siloed commerce data.
Engagement proved the model.
Monetization hit the limits of fragmented identity, data, and systems.
Monetization hit the limits of fragmented identity, data, and systems.
◆ Utah 360 · v1 Product Surface
One app. Twenty surfaces.
Built with Utah Athletics
01 / 18
Onboard
Landing
Direct · team-owned · measurable
→ precursor to Digital Spine
03 From Tools to System
A connected system for fan experience and revenue.
Two views · one spine
Identity · engagement · commerce
Identity · engagement · commerce
◇ Fan Experience View
One fan. One login.
Personalized content, loyalty, tickets, merch — in flow.
IDENTITY · ENGAGEMENT · COMMERCE · UNIFIED
04 College Sports
Massive scale.
Missing infrastructure.
Massive fan scale, but no unified digital infrastructure to monetize it.
Why Now
Capital is entering college athletics faster than the infrastructure to monetize it.
NIL, NewCo structures, and private equity are reshaping the landscape.
The infrastructure layer is still unowned.
◆ Scale
$4.3B
Annual ecosystem
190M+
National fan base
New capital entering college athletics — NewCos, PE, donor capital — now expects institutional-level revenue growth.
× Structural & Monetization Gap
—No unified fan identity across channels
—No scalable direct-to-fan engine
—NIL commerce not integrated into identity systems
—Revenue is episodic, not compounding
05 The Sports Technology Stack
The sports technology stack is fragmented.
Every vendor touches the fan. No platform owns the relationship.
Leagues / Teams
▸ own the asset
Content · Media
video · rights · distribution
Fan Engagement
apps · content · community
Commerce
ticketing · merch · payments
Infrastructure · Data
cloud · data · identity
The Fan Relationship
Today · Scattered
Identityunowned
Engagementfragmented
Commerceoutsourced
Datasiloed
Digital Spine unifies
Tomorrow · Owned
One owned
relationship.
relationship.
IdentityEngagementCommerceData
Owned by the team. Compounding every touch.
Representative Vendor Categories
Four dimensions · four vendor sets
Identity
Engagement
Commerce
Data
The conclusion
Every vendor touches the fan. No platform owns the relationship.
↓ §12
06 Platform & Revenue Model
Unified platform. Compounding revenue.
One system across identity, engagement, commerce, and data — monetized three ways.
Portfolio-wide
A shared infrastructure layer across a portfolio of teams — not a point solution.
The Platform
01
Identity
Own the fan relationship.
02
Engagement
Turn passive fans into active users.
03
Commerce
Convert engagement into recurring revenue.
04
Data
Intelligence loop feeds every layer.
The Revenue
01 · Year 1 · Recurring
Platform Fee
Paid by schools — recurring from day one.
02 · Year 2+ · Variable
Transaction Participation
Tickets. Merchandise. NIL.
03 · Year 3+ · Expansion
Advertising & Sponsorship
Brand dollars tied to owned fan identity.
Recurring from school 1. Compounds with every verified fan. Brand margin at scale.
Platform + Revenue
07 Execution · Strategic positioning
College is the entry point.
And the infrastructure layer that scales across the portfolio.
Strategic Positioning
A shared infrastructure layer across multiple teams — not a point solution.
Built for portfolio-wide deployment across college athletics programs. One system, many teams, compounding value.
Three Phases · Pilot → Scale
01 · Months 0–12
Prove.
1–3 pilots · validate unit economics.
02 · Months 13–24
Expand.
5–10 schools · compound revenue.
03 · Month 25+
Own.
30–50 schools · operate the layer.
Three Paths · Speed vs Control
ACQUIRE
01 · Speed
Acquire to accelerate.
BUILD
02 · Control
Build from pilot.
ACQUIRE
+
BUILD
RECOMMENDED
Acquire distribution. Build the layer.
Proof in year one. Infrastructure by year three. Portfolio-wide deployment at scale.
Contact
Derek J. Mattsson
Digital Spine · May 2026