Historic Division III Football Bowl Series comes to Canton's Hall of Fame Village with Opendorse support

ADA — The Ohio Athletic Conference is among four NCAA Division III conferences, all with a footprint in Ohio, that announced the inaugural Opendorse Bowl Series on Tuesday.

The OAC, Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference, North Coast Athletic Conference and Presidents' Athletic Conference will each be represented by their highest-ranked team to not make the NCAA Tournament in a one-day, two-game series set to take place on Nov. 23, 2024. With support from regional tourism arm Visit Canton, the series will be held at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium at Hall of Fame Village in Canton.

Opendorse, the leading NIL company and athlete marketplace, will sponsor the series while also providing year-round NIL services to the participating conferences. In addition to bringing together top teams from each conference in a celebration of Division III football excellence, all student-athletes from each conference will benefit from NIL opportunities and ongoing education. More than 100,000 athletes use Opendorse to build and monetize their name, image, and likeness with support from the world's top brands, colleges, NIL collectives and partners including Team USA, NFLPA, PGA TOUR and more.

"I think I speak for all four conferences in expressing my excitement for this event," said OAC Commissioner Sarah Otey. "The four leagues been considering bowl options for several years but wanted to make sure we were able to deliver a special student-athlete experience and do so in a way that invests in our local communities. The opportunity to host an event like this at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium and provide Division III student-athletes a chance to play in such an incredible venue will be great for our conferences, the sport and all of Division III. This would not have been possible without the support of Opendorse. While student-athletes have been able to benefit from the use of their name, image and likeness for several years, Division III student-athletes are underrepresented in the NIL marketplace. Opendorse's commitment to this bowl series and their support of these four conferences will help us begin to change that landscape. We are also grateful to Visit Canton for their continued partnership."

Vic Gregovits, Executive Vice President of Global Sales, added, "This is exactly the type of event and opportunity that we are built for at the Village, our world-class stadium and campus are the perfect backdrop to celebrate and shine a light on these incredible student-athletes. We are looking forward to welcoming the conferences to our facility."

Ohio Northern partnered with Opendorse beginning in February 2023, providing every ONU student-athlete with full access to the company's all-in-one NIL platform. Through the partnership, current and alumni ONU student-athletes can be found on the ONU Opendorse Marketplace.