Bloomington Leader

Anthony Leal, a player for the Indiana Hoosiers basketball team, is also making strides off the court as an entrepreneur. Along with IU graduates Jay Townsend and Nate Ebel, he co-founded Motion Sports Inc., a company providing a technology platform designed to streamline management for college athletic departments.

Motion Sports Inc. offers tools for managing schedules, communication, nutrition logs, film review, compliance forms, roster management, and name, image and likeness (NIL) deals in one place. The platform aims to simplify operations for both athletic departments and athletes. “There was a really strong demand for something easily usable for athletic departments and athletes that was not super expensive,” Leal stated.

Since its inception in September 2024, Motion Sports has secured partnerships with three college athletic departments. Townsend explained that these institutions are using parts of the platform while advising on further development. The application is compatible across various devices including cellphones and computers.

Leal's entrepreneurial journey began during his time at Indiana University where he earned a Bachelor of Science in entrepreneurship and corporate innovation in 2023. He credits his experience in BUS–W409: Practicum in Entrepreneurship as crucial in turning ideas into business ventures. Regan Stevenson, an associate professor at the Kelley School of Business who taught Leal’s class, praised him as "one of the brightest students I’ve worked with."

Leal will complete his Master of Business Administration from the Kelley Direct Online MBA program this spring. His early engagement with NIL opportunities set the foundation for Motion Sports. Following changes to NCAA policies allowing student-athletes to receive compensation through endorsements, Leal secured several local deals. This success led to inquiries from other athletes seeking advice on negotiating such agreements.

Jay Townsend noted that large athletic departments often juggle multiple platforms or vendors for different tasks. “The big takeaway from those conversations was there was a bigger problem that needs to be solved than helping athletes do NIL deals,” Leal commented.

The team behind Motion Sports brings together complementary skills: Townsend focuses on sales and fundraising; Ebel handles marketing; and Leal provides insight into user needs from an athlete's perspective. They aim to establish relationships with more college athletic departments and demonstrate how their technology can assist them.

Motion Sports plans to showcase its platform at upcoming events related to college athletics while continuing discussions with potential clients. The founders are working on refining certain features which they expect to complete by summer.

“Everything we’ve done in the last few months has been really promising," Leal remarked about their progress since launching last fall without any customers initially.