Lawrence, Kan. – Director of Athletics Travis Goff announced today that KU has hired Tate Gillespie and Casey Seberger to serve in two newly created positions overseeing name, image, and likeness efforts for Kansas Athletics.
“We are thrilled to welcome two talented and experienced members to the team who are passionate about educating and empowering our student-athletes in the NIL space,” Director of Athletics Travis Goff said. “The hires of Casey and Tate demonstrate our continued commitment to strengthening NIL services and reflects our belief that Jayhawk student-athletes should have ample and diverse opportunities to benefit from their name, image and likeness. As the landscape surrounding NIL continues to evolve, I am confident in our ability to be a leader in this space.”
Tate Gillespie – Director of NIL Strategy
Gillespie will lead all internal initiatives such as NCAA governance and compliance awareness, program enhancements, lead communicator with Altius Sports Partners, nationwide trends and best practices as well as education and strategic planning with coaches, staff and student-athletes.
Gillespie comes to KU after a career spanning across professional and collegiate athletics, most recently at Talkwalker where he helped develop and launch their new collegiate sports vertical, specializing in NIL and branding initiatives.
Prior to Talkwalker, Gillespie played two seasons of professional baseball in the Czech Republic and France, where he also played for the International Stars in the prestigious Prague Baseball Week showcase. As a professional athlete, Gillespie also served as a brand ambassador and partner for multiple brands in the sports and entertainment space. In addition, he also created and produced content such as blogs and YouTube channels centered around life as an athlete.
Additionally, Gillespie previously served as an International Envoy for Major League Baseball, where he worked with the league office, players, and staff across China on various player development and marketing initiatives.
Gillespie graduated from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi with a Bachelor’s in Communications, where he was a baseball letterwinner, SAAC Representative, and member of the Intercollegiate Athletics Council. He returned to Corpus Christi after graduation to assist in various student-athlete performance and external efforts with the Islanders athletic department. He also received an Associate’s Degree from Navarro College, where was a baseball student-athlete and selected to the Texas-New Mexico All Star team. Gillespie also holds a certificate from New York University’s Tisch Institute for Global Sport in Fundamentals of Global Sports Management.
Casey Seberger – Director of NIL, Athlete Brand Development and Partnerships
Sebeger joined Kansas Athletics in August of 2022 and currently serves as the Director of NIL, Athlete Brand Development and Partnerships. Prior to Kansas, Seberger worked for NIL industry leader, Opendorse, and four years with Kansas Athletics’ multi-media rights partner, Learfield.
In Seberger’s newly created role, she will be responsible for managing the external aspects of NIL for KU including communication with Mass St. Collective and third-party NIL groups, student-athlete brand development presentations, NIL licensing and corporate partner initiatives as well as donor and external stakeholder engagement.
Prior to Kansas, Seberger served as an Account Executive on the Brand Partnership team at Opendorse. While at Opendorse, she connected student-athletes across the country with brands such as Meta, Sweetgreen, and Current among others for national brand campaigns.
Casey also spent four years with Kansas Athletics’ multi-media rights partner, Learfield. In her role as Manager of Partnership Services, Seberger was responsible for the fulfillment of all assets for local, regional, and national corporate partners of KU. Seberger worked closely with the Kansas Athletics staff to deliver assets relating to marketing and communications, donor initiatives, and alumni relations.
Casey is a graduate of the University of Nebraska- Lincoln and previous long and triple jumper on the Track & Field team. She currently resides in Overland Park, KS with her goldendoodle, Pete.
