Paige Bueckers’ new NIL deal part of rising trend focused on social issues

UConn women’s basketball star Paige Bueckers has agreed to a NIL deal that aims to draw awareness to the issue of student hunger.

Bueckers, the 2021 women’s national player of the year who has led UConn to the Women’s Final Four, will be the first student-athlete brand ambassador for the education platform Chegg. 

Bueckers and Chegg will work to draw awareness to the issue of student hunger. A report from Chegg.org shows 32% of college students surveyed reported they had suffered from food insecurity since the start of the pandemic. Chegg said the report’s findings mirror the larger food insecurity crisis exacerbated by the pandemic and structural inequalities.

“As a college sophomore balancing so many things, I’ve always appreciated Chegg’s commitment to meeting students where they are and supporting them in a meaningful way,” Bueckers said in a news release. “I’m thrilled to become Chegg’s first student-athlete brand ambassador and for this opportunity to help in the fight against food insecurity which affects too many of my peers and 12 million kids in the U.S.”

This Paige Bueckers NIL deal is different

Many fans are viewing Name, Image and Likeness only as an opportunity for student-athletes to make money off their brands. But NIL observers say more athletes are doing deals that raise awareness on social issues.

“Deals like this where the athlete is using his or her NIL to draw awareness to a social issue are definitely growing,” said Mit Winter, a sports attorney at Kansas City-based Kennyhertz Perry LLC. “I think these types of deals are great for the athlete, the brand they’re working with and the social issue being addressed.

“For the athlete, it shows the public and other brands that they have interests beyond athletics. So often, athletes can get pigeonholed as just an ‘athlete.’ I’m a big fan of deals where athletes can open up about their interests outside of sports. And these deals also allow athletes to use their star power to bring attention to issues they feel passionate about.”

NIL deals focused on social issues also can further strengthen a student-athlete’s brand, Winter said.

“I think deals like this will also attract other brands looking to do NIL deals with college athletes since the athlete is likely going to be viewed positively in the public eye,” Winter said.

It can also be a big win for companies that do these types of NIL deals.

“If the athlete participates more in social issues, typically those things get better news coverage and people end up talking about it and tweeting about it,” said Jaxon Curtis, a NIL and sports marketing agent with Oncoor Sports Marketing.

“I think the athletes need to get involved with social issues and community service more than one time during the year. Just like being consistent in brand building on social, they need to be consistent as well.”

Paige Bueckers hosting event during Final Four

To further help raise awareness, Paige Bueckers is hosting a pop-up grocery market Saturday in Minneapolis that will give out 6,000 free meals. Minneapolis, Bueckers’ hometown, is hosting the Final Four, and the Huskies face Stanford at 7 p.m. ET Friday in the national semifinals.

Bueckers hopes to open permanent free Goodr grocery stores on school and college campuses.

“While this is the first of several projects in schools with Goodr, it was really important to use the momentum we have around the tournament to raise awareness on the issue and support my hometown of Minneapolis during such an important weekend for our game,” Bueckers said.

Bueckers has one of top brands in all of college sports

The NIL deal with Chegg is not the first big deal Paige Bueckers has signed. She already had lucrative deals with Gatorade, Cash App and StockX, in addition to filing a trademark for “Paige Buckets” — presumably to create her own line of merchandise.

Experts say Bueckers may be the most marketable college basketball player in the nation.

“There are not many seven-figure potential student-athletes in the country,” Opendorse CEO and co-founder Blake Lawrence said earlier. “Paige is one of them.”