In the founders’ own words, The Players Trunk is “a platform for former college athletes to capitalize on the gear they earned during the duration of their college career.”
Fans and supporters of those college athletes can browse the website and buy products like autographed jerseys, practice jerseys, custom merchandise, hats, and gloves.
The Players Trunk started with basketball and has since added some training gear and other products from athletes who play baseball, soccer, lacrosse, track and field events, and girls’ volleyball.
This company was launched by Austin Pomerantz, Jason Lansing, and Hunter Pomerantz coupled with some professional basketball players like Zavier Simpson and Charles Matthews. Austin, Jason, and Hunter worked as college sports team managers which is how Charles and Zavier got in touch with them to help them sell their gear during their college careers.
Soon, the quintet noted that a centralized platform might be a more professional and efficient way for the players to offload their merchandise and gear, so they launched The Players Trunk in 2020.
Why Is The Players Trunk Popular?
The Players Trunk is mainly popular since it is quite easy to use both for college athletes together with their fans wishing to buy memorabilia and an assortment of sporting gear.
First, an Athlete contacts the TPT team through the website. Next, one of the co-founders is expected to reach out to the players and set up the items on the platform. From the marketing photos to shipping, TPT takes care of everything in exchange for a cut from every sale.
Appearance On Shark Tank
A $13 million valuation was not adequate to convince Kevin Hart or Sharks Kevin O’Leary, Mark Cuban, Barbara Corcoran, and Lori Greiner in The Players Trunk.
When a Shark pointed out that the sports memorabilia space was highly saturated, The Players Trunk highlighted their $1.3 million in sales with profits of $200,000 at the time of filming the show.
That was not enough to sway most of the Sharks but two of them offered $650,000 in exchange for 30% equity. When the TPT team countered that offer with $750,000 for 7.5%, Shark Kevin O’Leary and the Twittersphere’s response was volatile and less than sympathetic.
Where Is The Company Today?
Despite walking away from Shark Tank without any deal, The Players Trunk has since been endorsed by former professional basketball player Dwayne Tyrone Wade Jr. together with publications like GQ and Forbes.
After an originally positive launch, things seemed to improve further in 2021 for The Players Trunk when the NCAA let college players make money from their names and likenesses. This allowance meant that TPT could now sell all except current players’ gear through the platform. That was a great first birthday present for The Players Trunk.
Who knows where The Players Trunk would have been if they had accepted the Sharks’ counter-offer? Currently, dozens of professional players have signed up with The Players Trunk, and in July 2022, just in time for their two years in business, the new Kameron Mcgusty drop happened.