Dropback
The front office software suite for college sports
Dropback is building front office software for the future of college sports. We help major athletic departments manage their teams' "salary caps" and roster limits to construct their most competitive rosters. Just two years ago, it became legal for athletes to earn an income beyond their scholarships. Since then, despite college athletes earning $2B+, rapid regulation change has put college sports in disarray. Dropback brings order to this chaos through custom compensation frameworks, roster management, what-if playgrounds, and more--ultimately helping elite programs optimize spend & maximize talent.
Active Founders
Luke Bogus, Co-Founder
Before Dropback, Luke was Head of Product for Vial, a Series B life science tech startup, helping zero-to-one new clinical trial infrastructure that now generates millions in ARR. Prior, Luke was a Product Manager at Microsoft, and studied computer science and marketing at Nebraska's Raikes School.
Nick Siscoe, Founder
Building tech to power the front office of elite college sports teams @ dropback.com
Company Launches
Hey! Luke and Nick here, excited to announce Dropback.
Dropback helps college sports teams build competitive rosters. Starting with roster management and player valuation, Dropback is building toward “the Rippling for sports:” an all-in-one platform for headcount management, contracts, payouts, and more.
We’re excited to announce TrueNU, Northwestern football’s official NIL Collective, as our first public partner—with more major Power 4 Conference program announcements coming soon.
🏟️ Problem: Valuing and paying players is a headache for college sports teams
In 2021, the NCAA—the governing body of college sports—allowed athletes to earn an income beyond their scholarships. While athletes have earned $2B+ since, rapid regulation change and legal arbitrage have put college sports in disarray.
Athletes are capitalizing on the chaos: signing agents, negotiating contracts, and maximizing pay through free agency. Collegiate athletic departments, however, are lost. And now, with the Revenue Sharing Era of college sports beginning in 2025—an effective $22M+ “payroll” to athletes per school—teams need infrastructure to manage rosters financially and optimize spend to remain competitive.
For years, pro teams (NFL, NBA, MLB etc.) have spent millions on in-house engineering departments & data gurus to develop custom software for General Managers — like Brad Pitt in Moneyball — to do their jobs. It is just now legal for college teams to compensate their athletes, and they’re evolving to think like the pros too—yet today, don’t have the tech to do it effectively.
Today, the multi-million dollar business of college sports runs on whiteboards, bloated incumbent tech, and one-size-fits-all software. Dropback is fixing this.
🏆 Solution: Dropback is “Moneyball-as-a-Service” for college sports.
Dropback’s roster valuation platform lets elite programs build private, custom financial models and construct competitive rosters. We’re bringing the tools that power professional sports front offices to the world of college sports—at a fraction of the cost.
🧮 Calculate: Powered by a first-of-its-kind DIY Valuation Modeler, Dropback enables Collegiate General Managers & Coaches to value their athletes their way—via custom metrics, baselines, and weights.
🏗️ Construct: Optimize roster construction and spend with infinite budgets, versions, and rosters that update in real time.
🏆 Compete: Compare athletes across active roster, transfer portal, and high school head-to-head—with teams’ custom models—to build the most competitive roster within the bounds of your budget.
👀 Coming Soon: Athlete Management System & Recruitment Data Integrations, AI-powered historical analysis & projections, contract management & payouts, and much more…
🥅 Asks:
Know an Athletic Department leader?
- Share this post!
- Put them in touch: hello@dropback.com
- Or, share the blurb below
Dropback is the front office software suite for college sports. We help major collegiate programs construct competitive rosters—through our roster valuation infrastructure that lets elite programs build private, custom financial models. Our growing list of partners includes TrueNU, Northwestern’s official NIL collective. Contact luke@dropback.com for a demo.
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Hear from the founders
How did your company get started? (i.e., How did the founders meet? How did you come up with the idea? How did you decide to be a founder?)
The two of us met in college 7 years ago, and have been friends since. While jobs originally pulled us apart… (Luke: PM @ Microsoft, then Head of Product @ Vial - Series B life sciences tech startup. Nick: Engineer @ PayIt and many side projects) …college sports always kept us together. Our mission is to bring to life the elite software that elite college teams deserve.
What is the core problem you are solving? Why is this a big problem? What made you decide to work on it?
Championship-caliber teams are fueled by creative, competitive front offices.Pro teams (NFL, NBA, MLB etc.) already knows this. For years, they’ve spent millions on in-house engineering departments & data gurus to develop custom software for General Managers (and front office staff) to manage rosters financially and optimize spend to remain competitive. It is just now becoming legally possible for college teams to compensate their athletes. In 2021, the NCAA—the governing body of college sports—allowed athletes to earn an income beyond their scholarships per their NIL (name, image, and likeness) Policy. While athletes have earned $2B+ since ‘21, and estimated to earn $2B+ in 2025, rapid regulation change and legal arbitrage have put college sports in disarray.This seismic shift of college athletics, we believe, should also disrupt the role software plays in helping Athletic Departments remain competitive. Status-quo software has dominated college athletics for over a decade. Elite programs will demand elite solutions, and one-size-fits-all software that cross-sells & shares data to their customers doesn’t cut it.Dropback wants to raise the bar on just how advanced sportstech can be. So, we’re bringing pro-grade tools to college sports, at a fraction of the cost.