For local athletes in the White Sox’ NIL program, the first pitch is the first step

On April 12 Zack Sharp won the national championship as a key defenseman with Western Michigan’s hockey team. But on Tuesday, the Naperville resident got a chance for another unique sports experience.

Thanks to his role as a ChiSox athlete, Sharp threw out the first pitch before an 8-1 White Sox victory over the Detroit Tigers.

“Throwing out the first pitch, not everyone gets to do it, so I’m super honored. It’s super cool and different,” Sharp said. “This is something you don’t do every night. Your friends and family, you’re able to have them along with you for the night. It’s special.”

Mike Downey, the White Sox senior director of marketing and promotions, is the creator of the ChiSox program, now in its fourth year. Downey hopes that the partnerships created by the program will last well after the athletes’ college careers are done.

“I'm using this program to help build high-profile fans of the Chicago White Sox that will hopefully help us down the line in years to come,” Downey said. “My hope is that we have long-lasting relationships with these athletes, far beyond the expiration date of their contract. Back to my point of developing long term, high-profile fans. Our goal is to kind of keep in touch with a lot of these athletes who are great and show promise.”

To assist in that endeavor, the program helps set its athletes up for future success. As part of their partnership, the athletes in the program also receive career mentorship and opportunities to shadow the White Sox operations teams. Even though Sharp is only a sophomore, the opportunities he’s been given have proven invaluable.

“I’m just going step by step with it. I’m excited to be and I’m honored to be a ChiSox athlete,” Sharp said. “It’s super cool to learn the experiences from other people, other people’s point of views, and learn what to do for your future and help you grow as a person, player and student.”

The program is also designed to help the athletes grow their brand on social media. For Downey, it’s a win-win relationship: the athletes promote the White Sox on their social media pages, and the team does the same in return.

“It's a brand ambassador program. You know, they rep the Sox. We'll highlight them on our social channel, kind of help build their brand. And in return, they show off having a good time at the White Sox game,” Downey said. “It's cool to be recognized by your hometown team, by a Major League Baseball team. They love the social media brand awareness angle that we're providing to them.”

Northwestern basketball player Nick Martinelli (Glenview), Notre Dame soccer player Berkley Mensik (Algonquin) and Western Michigan gymnast Hannah Milton (Hinsdale) are among the suburban athletes in the program’s 2025 class.

And unlike some NIL programs, the ChiSox program doesn’t just focus on revenue-generating sports. While there are plenty of football and basketball players in the program, there are also athletes representing volleyball, soccer, gymnastics and, like Sharp, hockey. Downey says that the variety in sports has helped the program’s reach go beyond what even he expected.

“We really are looking for personalities at this point in time, in Year 4. We really can tell, based off an athlete's social profile, if this person might be a good fit for the program,” Downey said. “I've honestly found that a lot of the student-athletes from the nonrevenue generating sports have had better social content for us, which is pretty cool.”

For Sharp, the coolest part was the first pitch (he threw a strike). But he’s also extremely excited for all the opportunities to come.

“They’ve been really good for me … Opportunities like tonight, not everyone gets to do, so the fact that they provide that is super, super cool,” Sharp said. “I’m super honored. It’s super cool and different.”