Syntilay Partners with Opendorse to Bring 3D-Printed Footwear to College Athletes

For decades, getting your own signature shoe has been reserved for a very small group of athletes.

Usually, you had to become a superstar first.

We think that can change.

Syntilay is partnering with Opendorse, a leading technology, data, and service platform powering the Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) industry, to introduce 3D-printed footwear to college athletes across the country.

From Wearing Someone Else’s Shoe to Creating Your Own

Most college athletes have spent their entire careers wearing footwear designed for someone else.

The signature shoe has traditionally come much later, if it ever comes at all.

3D printing changes the economics of that model.

Syntilay can develop footwear without the traditional requirements of molds, tooling, massive production runs, or warehouses filled with every size.

That creates an opportunity to start working with athletes much earlier in their careers.

Through our collaboration with Opendorse, we’re beginning with a product-first approach: getting actual 3D-printed Syntilay footwear onto college athletes and introducing them to an entirely different way shoes can be designed and manufactured. The initial activation will include NIL Media Days at campuses nationwide, where participating athletes will receive printed footwear in exchange for content and social exposure.

For some athletes, this is just the beginning.

Our longer-term vision is to give college athletes the opportunity to go from wearing a 3D-printed shoe to creating their own signature shoe.

Why Opendorse Is an Important Part of This

To build something meaningful in college sports, you need to reach athletes where they already are.

That’s what makes Opendorse such an important part of this initiative.

More than 200,000 athlete influencers use Opendorse to build, promote, and monetize their personal brands.

Opendorse gives Syntilay a way to introduce 3D-printed footwear to college athletes at scale, giving them the opportunity to experience this new generation of footwear firsthand while opening a new path to monetize their NIL through signature shoes of their own.

As Blake Lawrence, Co-Founder & President, Collegiate Operations at Opendorse, said:

“By putting real product directly in athletes’ hands, they’ll build authentic connections with fans as they grow their presence in college athletics.”

That’s exactly the goal.

Rethinking Who Gets a Signature Shoe

NIL has already changed what it means to build an athlete’s brand.

College athletes can develop audiences, build businesses, partner with companies, and monetize their identities while they’re still competing at school.

Why shouldn’t footwear evolve with that?

Traditional signature-shoe economics made it difficult to create an original shoe for anyone except athletes capable of supporting enormous production runs.

On-demand 3D printing can remove many of those barriers.

There doesn’t have to be a massive bet on inventory before anyone knows whether fans want the shoe.

There doesn’t need to be a warehouse filled with dozens of size combinations.

And an athlete’s product doesn’t have to be an existing shoe with a different logo or color.

It can be their silhouette. Their story. Their shoe.

That opens the possibility of giving athletes access to signature footwear at a stage of their careers when traditional footwear companies historically couldn’t.

And creating an entirely new NIL revenue opportunity in the process.

Custom for the Athlete. Custom for the Fan.

We think a truly personal shoe should be built around your feet.

Syntilay is building footwear around a fundamentally different model: scan the customer, then make the product.

Using foot-scanning technology and on-demand 3D printing, footwear can ultimately be made around the individual customer’s feet rather than requiring a brand to manufacture and hold traditional size inventory.

That means the vision is

College athlete → signature shoe → individually made for the fan wearing it.

Customers will be able to access custom-fit footwear through a foot scan online and, as the physical network expands, through participating retail locations.

The Beginning of Something Bigger

Our partnership with Opendorse is about introducing athletes to a new footwear system early enough that they can ultimately become part of creating it.

Today, an athlete receives a pair.

Tomorrow, that athlete could help design a silhouette.

And then, fans can scan their own feet and order that athlete’s shoe made specifically for them.

“We’re introducing the next generation of athletes to the next generation of footwear. Giving them the opportunity to experience 3D-printed shoes today and ultimately create signature footwear of their own.”

— Ben Weiss, Founder & CEO, Syntilay

Signature footwear can now begin earlier than ever, giving athletes the opportunity to start building something of their own from the earliest stages of their journey.