Local agency reimagined NCAA.org, putting student-athletes at the forefront

INDIANAPOLIS – The NCAA, the largest college sports organization in the world, partnered with Indianapolis-based advertising, digital and public relations agency, Borshoff, to rebuild its website, one of the most visible sites in sports, from the ground up.

The reimagined site launched July 6 and marks a new, user-centered operating model, redesigned specifically for each audiences’ unique NCAA journey. User research helped ensure the transformation was geared to the collegiate academic and athletic experience of student-athletes, as well as a comprehensive career hub to help them prepare for life after college sports.

Through more focused content, stronger search performance, improved findability and accessibility with clearer pathways across all three NCAA divisions and a greater emphasis on storytelling, the new site showcases the positive impact of college athletics and helps student-athletes feel the value of being part of the NCAA during their college career and beyond.

With the direction from the NCAA to “reimagine from the ground up” and considering the primary audiences of student-athlete families, prospective student-athletes, current student-athletes and member schools, Borshoff partnered with the NCAA and their Indianapolis-based development partner, Crafted, to create a new website that told a compelling and more visual story.

Years of content updates and additions had turned NCAA.org into a labyrinth of more than 3,000 pages. Research revealed key insights that high school athletes visiting the site were focused on the practical steps to playing college sports: getting recruited, understanding eligibility and finding scholarships. Parents of student-athletes wanted comprehensive guides on navigating the recruiting process, understanding eligibility and financial aid opportunities. Navigation and findability were the top concerns across coaches/administrators, fans and office staff. 

Audience pathway architecture organized thousands of web pages around how users actually look for information, and Borshoff created a new design and storytelling strategy to feel authoritative, inspiring and accessible, standing apart from templated college sports sites.  

“We are proud to celebrate the launch of the redesigned NCAA.org and thrilled to work with Borshoff to create a user-centered experience,” said Gina Lehe, NCAA vice president of communications. “NCAA.org is now organized by user journeys – for the high school junior dreaming of a collegiate roster spot, the parent learning about eligibility or the athletics director seeking compliance information. Instead of a resource filing platform, the site focuses on the NCAA’s storytelling power, highlighting the NCAA as one of the leading human development engines in the world.” 

The new NCAA site is designed around collegiate student-athlete journeys, including a simplified path to faster eligibility information, personalized experiences and easier access to championship information. Looking ahead, because only 2% of college student-athletes go on to compete professionally, the NCAA’s next phase for the site includes a comprehensive career hub featuring career readiness, job and internship resources, such as resume-building tools and a job/internship board to help student-athletes prepare for life after college sports.  

“Creating a digital experience for an organization as influential as the NCAA required us to think beyond a traditional website redesign,” said Justin Wojtowicz, Borshoff owner and chief marketing & strategy officer. “Working alongside the NCAA and Crafted, we reimagined one of the most visible websites in college sports with the people who rely on it at the center of every decision. The result is a simpler, smarter and more accessible experience that helps hundreds of thousands of student-athletes, member schools and millions of visitors find the information they need while telling the powerful story of how college athletics shapes lives.” 

The website supports more than 1,100 member schools, 24 sports, more than 90 championships and over 500,000 athletes. The site also spotlights all NCAA member sports, not just those with the largest budget. The site meets its audience where they are from a digital standpoint with a complete expansion of accessibility including AI-powered Smart Search that delivers more relevant search results and content recommendations, fewer downloadable PDFs in favor of accessible web content, personalized content and digital experiences, interactive championship and news search tools to help users quickly find information, multilingual translation, and more.  To check out the reimagined NCAA website, visit NCAA.org. For more information on Borshoff, visit Borshoff.biz.

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About the NCAA

The National Collegiate Athletic Association provides a world-class athletics and academic experience that fosters lifelong well-being for more than 520,000 student-athletes annually. The NCAA stages 94 championships across three divisions, and its 1,100 member schools provide nearly $4 billion in athletics scholarships every year. Visit ncaa.org and ncaa.com for more.

NCAA is a registered trademark of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. 

About Borshoff

Borshoff is an advertising, digital and public relations agency headquartered in Indianapolis, IN, and is a local, state and nationally certified Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE). Founded in 1984, Borshoff’s purpose is empowering brands to enrich people’s lives by helping organizations stand out in their industries and inspire their audiences to act. For more information visit Borshoff.biz.

Media Contact 

Contact: Amy Hanna, 317-695-6331 

amy.hanna@borshoff.biz

Contact: Colleen Settle, 317-242-8907 

colleen.settle@borshoff.biz