MANHATTAN, Kan. – As college athletics continues to evolve within the new era of revenue sharing, K-State Athletics has announced the public launch of Cats+ (www.catsplus.com), a new subscription-based service that provides fans a direct path to support Wildcat student-athletes while also seeing benefits in return.
The uniqueness of this platform and service is that it provides a direct revenue stream to support Wildcat student-athletes and will be powered by ONELIVE, the widely successful direct-to-fan ecommerce company, who has worked with various artists, such as Taylor Swift, Zac Brown Band and Willie Nelson. This partnership with K-State is the first of its kind between ONELIVE and a college athletics program with others working toward launch in the future.
“As college athletics evolves, we must keep up and be proactive,” Athletics Director Gene Taylor said. “Our fans continue to ask how they can help in this new model, and Cats+ is a way to directly support our student-athletes and programs while benefiting from access through exclusive content and experiences. It’s a win-win for both parties, especially our fans that may have moved away from the region but still want to be connected and support K-State Athletics.”
The service, available on a monthly or yearly plan, includes behind-the-scenes access; special features highlighting K-State student-athletes and coaches via videos, podcast, special K-State Sports Extra articles written by D. Scott Fritchen and classic game replays; early access to digital and product-based items; exclusive digital content; and enter-to-win sweepstakes for experiences and products.
“College athletics is entering a new era where the future of NIL funding will be driven by fan membership, not just traditional donations,” said ONELIVE CEO Tom West. “K-State is leading that shift by launching Cats+, creating a scalable way for fans everywhere to support Wildcat student-athletes while gaining meaningful insider access. We’re proud to power the platform that makes that possible.”
ONELIVE powers official fan membership platforms for sports and entertainment organizations nationwide. The company serves as technology partner for scalable membership and e-commerce programs that connect fans directly with student-athletes and athletic departments to drive strategic revenue for NIL and revenue sharing in this new era of college athletics.