The Players Trunk Shark Tank Update: Where Is The Players Trunk Now?

Shraman Mitra of The Players Trunk Shark Tank Update: Where Is The Players Trunk Now? Shraman Mitra
May 20, 2022
Image Credit: Christopher Willard/ABC

Loads of college athletes are stuck with piles of sporting gear once they reach the end of their tenure. While reselling such equipment has always been an issue, The Players Trunk provides an innovative solution for the same. Established by two former athletes and three college team student managers, the company offers an exclusive platform that can be used to sell used gear, merchandise, and memorabilia. Once presented in ‘Shark Tank‘ season 13, The Players Trunk caught our interest. So, we decided to find out more about them and how the venture is doing as of this day!

The Players Trunk: Who Are They and What Do They Do?

The Players Trunk was established by five partners, namely, Jason Lansing, Austin Pomerantz, Hunter Pomerantz, Charles Matthews, and Zavier Simpson. All five have immense experience in the field of sports, which helped them take their business forward with ease. Jason and Austin completed their Bachelor’s Degree in Sports Management from the University of Michigan and managed the men’s basketball team during their university years. Besides, they were also involved with the Michigan Sport Business Conference and had earned valuable experience by working as interns in the field of sports.

Hunter Pomerantz studied Sports Management at Syracuse University, where he was the Head Manager of the men’s basketball team from August 2016 to August 2020. In contrast, Charles and Zavier are professional basketball players. The former plays for the Maine Celtics, while the latter plays as a guard for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Interestingly, the idea for The Players Trunk first occurred to Jason and Austin during their time at the University of Michigan. Charles and Zavier, who were on the university’s basketball team, approached Jason to help sell their sporting gear on social media. Unwilling to settle with just a post on Instagram, Jason looked into the issue and realized that college athletes around the United States faced the same problem every year. Determined to find a viable solution, Jason and Austin put their minds together to come up with The Players Trunk. Gradually, they even roped in Austin’s brother, Hunter, as well as Charles and Zavier as co-founders.

At its core, The Players Trunk provides an easy-to-use platform for college athletes to sell their old sporting gear, memorabilia, and merchandise. Once an athlete gets in touch with the website, one of the co-founders reaches out to the player and sets everything up. Moreover, the platform also takes all the responsibility, from photographing the product to shipping, and in exchange, takes a cut from each sale. While the existence of such a centralized platform saves athletes from putting up haphazard posts on social media, it also helps customers by proving everything in an organized fashion.

Where Is The Players Trunk Now?

The Players Trunk was received quite positively upon its launch, and college athletes from all over the United States began endorsing its services. Even after tasting initial success, the co-founders worked tirelessly to make the process as seamless and transparent as possible. Naturally, their immense dedication paid off, and The Players Trunk’s popularity led to it being featured in reputed publications and TV channels, including Bloomberg, CBS, AP, GQ, Forbes, and many more.

In June of 2021, the NCAA allowed college athletes to make money from their name and likeness, which further boosted the company’s business. Due to the ruling, The Players Trunk was able to start selling memorabilia, customized merchandise, and signed trading cards for present players, as they are not allowed to sell their gear.

At present, listing a product on The Players Trunk is exceptionally effortless, as one needs to get in touch with the co-founders through the website. While former athletes are charged around 20% of the profit made, present players should be ready to pay between 25% to 40% of their total profit. Although the co-founders mentioned that they are working from the Pomerantz garage and are yet to move into an actual facility, we are confident that the company is destined for further success.

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