BATON ROUGE, La.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Undefeated Brother Martin High School wrestler Richie Clementi is Louisiana’s first high school athlete to sign a name, image, likeness (NIL) deal when he reached an agreement with Friendly Powersports Slidell.
MatchPoint Connection, a national leader in the NIL industry, brokered the deal between Friendly Powersports and Clementi.
A freshman at Brother Martin High School in New Orleans, Clementi has amassed an 80-0 record over the last two years, and he captured the Louisiana state championship in February in the 113lb weight class.
“Mr. Mark Bould and Friendly Powersports have always been great to work with, and he’s such a great guy too,” Clementi said. “It’s super exciting to have an NIL deal, and it just makes me want to work harder.”
Since joining the MatchPoint Connection platform, Clementi has already received a second offer for an NIL deal.
“I woke up the other morning with another NIL offer for me in the MatchPoint app, and that was pretty cool to see first thing when I woke up,” Clementi said.
Clementi’s father, Rich Clementi, was a professional MMA fighter for more than a decade, reaching as high as No. 8 in the world rankings. Rich Clementi runs Clementi’s Gladiator Academy where Richie trained and wrestled as a youth.
“I’m so proud of Richie and how hard he continues to work in everything he does. Me and my son have had meaningful conversations about the importance of social media and making sure it’s always done in a positive light,” Rich Clementi said. “Richie understands if you tarnish your name on social media, you become a person that does not have a lot of marketability to people who may have been interested in you.”
Rich Clementi was thrilled to work with MatchPoint Connection and Friendly Powersports to usher in the first NIL deal for his son.
“The fact that Mark and Friendly Powersports is the first to contribute to Richie in an NIL deal is just awesome because we have known Mark and worked with him over the years,” Rich Clementi said. “At the same token, from a brand it truly is a competitor-to-brand relationship. Richie loves their brand. He loves motorcycles and 4-wheelers. It’s great to have such a connection that’s also meaningful in nature.”
“Richie is a first-class high school athlete, a hard worker, and a tremendous competitor. It is our honor to work with someone, at such a young age, who understands the type of sports figure businesses want to work with,” said Brian Oliver, MatchPoint Connection CEO.
MatchPoint Connection continues to add more athletes and businesses to its platform to create more NIL deals.
