ANN ARBOR, MI, November 12, 2024 – A new era begins as the University of Michigan announces its monument partnership with Passes—an innovative platform founded and spearheaded by talented tech entrepreneur Lucy Guo. At the core of the partnership is a new way, through which student-athlete engagement will prosper and monetization will aid in the betterment of every athlete involved in the project. This partnership aims to collaborate across 29 varsity sports, offering direct-to-fan engagement tools. These tools will come as exclusive content, merchandise, and live-streamed events, allowing fans to play a crucial role in supporting their favorite athlete.

A new stride in fostering fan support and career growth in student-athletes

Michigan Content Hub will be the standalone point from where fans (subscribers) will select from different Tiers. These tiers will open up exclusive content for the fans as the aforementioned types (merchandise, experiences, and events). This entire project is connected with the NIL fund as well. As an example; fans and donors subscribing to Team 146 Tier will be able to monetarily support the football team. This, in turn, will allow Michigan football to tap into the transfer portal or recruitment and retention to build up a roster that can forever remain in contention for the national championships. To sum it all up, this movement will showcase that, despite the size, individual donors will have a massive impact on the University of Michigan’s ability to become successful in the dynamic college landscape.

Talking about the partnership, Lucy Guo, CEO of Passes, mentioned, “The University of Michigan ranks highly among the world’s great institutions of higher learning and enjoys a rich, tradition-laden history in college sports.” This partnership will become the cornerstone movement for every student-athlete and their future brands and careers.

Adding to this entire project, Danielle Davison, Assistant AD for NIL at the University of Michigan, mentioned, “This partnership with Passes aligns with our university’s commitment to innovation and student-athlete development. It gives all our teams a powerful platform to showcase Michigan Athletics and connect with our passionate fanbase while preparing our student-athletes for success in the evolving landscape of college sports.”

This initiative from Passes is not limited to student-athletes. In the future, Passes will offer summer internships as well as campus recruitment for their Los Angeles corporate office. On-campus support in An Arbor has already been hired by Passes to ensure that student-athletes are provided with the necessary resources for success on the platform.

About Lucy Guo and Passes

Born on October 14th, 1991, Lucy Guo developed an early interest in technology and programming in the second grade. In 2016, Guo co-founded Scale AI. The company was focused on providing high-quality training data for AI applications. Under her leadership, Scale AI quickly became a leader in the AI industry.

Guo founded Passes in 2022. Since then, the company has provided a successful and stable platform for athletes, artists, and influencers to connect with their audience. Big names from the Sports field, like Shaquille O’Neal and Livvy Dunne, have already provided countless exclusive content on the platform. This goes to show the reach and the industry-leading experience the company has been providing to fans.