Sweat Is Free, a fitness studio in Moore, Oklahoma, is establishing itself in high school Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) by offering unique endorsement opportunities.
Sweat Is Free owner Gary Augustine Warren is signing select student-athletes across multiple sports (football, basketball, women’s wrestling, volleyball, and soccer) within the Oklahoma City metro to NIL opportunities. The NIL agreements between Sweat Is Free and the signed student-athletes consist of offering the athletes training programs at the gym in exchange for the promotion of the business. Warren described these NIL partnerships as a “team effort” between himself, the parents, and the student-athletes to ensure the entire process goes smoothly.
Warren believes that the type of NIL deals he is offering his athletes is something that cannot be found elsewhere in Oklahoma.
“The type of service we have, we are basically one of one in the state,” Warren said. “This particular type of training in conjunction with the sports massage, I think that is a very unique setting.”
The Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association (OSSAA) issued its guidelines for NIL in October 2022. Bryan Bedford, owner of Bedford Agency and the official partner to the OSSAA, described the state of high school NIL in Oklahoma.
“I think it’s pretty healthy, never perfect, but I think directionally we are headed in a good spot,” Bedford said.
What started as an appointment-only gym with Isophit products for isometric strength training, Sweat Is Free now operates in NIL with six high school and one college athletes signed to agreements. A relatively new type of exercise equipment, Isophit’s products are used by six NBA teams, a couple of NFL teams, multiple colleges, and the US Army.
Moore High School senior volleyball and soccer player Addison Worley started her NIL partnership with Sweat Is Free over the summer.
“I never would’ve thought I would be doing an NIL workout,” Worley said. “I think it is a great opportunity and I think it helps an athlete mentally and physically.”
Addison’s mother, Jennifer Worley, believes the workouts at Sweat Is Free will help her as she prepares for college volleyball at Harding University in Arkansas.
“She has never done any kind of workout like this, so I immediately was interested for her,” Worley said. “You have cardio, weightlifting, and actual practices, but I feel like this is another thing to an athlete’s training that can really help elevate their game.”
With seven student-athletes already partnered with the company, Warren is looking forward to expanding his NIL reach in the future, by adding more athletes each dead-period of the OSSAA calendar.