24 Ohio State players will arrive at games in style thanks to NIL deal

The Columbus, Ohio, suit company Pursuit announced NIL deals with 24 Ohio State offensive linemen and quarterbacks, including the entire Buckeyes’ starting offensive line.

In return for promoting Pursuit – which was founded by Ohio State graduate Nate DeMars – the players will wear Pursuit custom outfits for home games on their walks to Ohio Stadium.

The suits were designed collaboratively with each player and the Pursuit team to be a “cohesive look while allowing each player to make the suits their own.” All the suits are gray and black plaid with scarlet accents but with designs personalized uniquely by each player. 

“I really think this is the most ambitious NIL deal in the country,” DeMars shared with On3. “Most NIL features one or two players. For us having the entire position group makes it special, and makes it part of the team culture. Having the linemen enlist the quarterbacks this year just shows how well last year’s campaign was executed. For this year we really wanted to do something unlike anything we have seen so far and shooting a fictional short film with 24 players was a huge production and was really special.”

The commercial shows off the Ohio State linemen’s acting skills along with their new Pursuit custom suits, shirts and shoes. The commercial is dubbed “Setting the Table.” In it, the linemen are hosts at a fictional fine dining restaurant in Columbus protecting and serving the Ohio State quarterbacks.

Pursuit said this is the first of several other NIL deals with Ohio State student-athletes throughout the 2023 football season.

What Ohio State players are part of NIL deal?

The players involved in the deal include Ohio State offensive linemen: Vic Cutler, Jakob James, Toby Wilson, Quinton Burke, Luke Montgomery, Josh Simmons, Joshua Padilla, Zen Michalski, George Fitzpatrick, Josh Fryar, Enokk Vimahi, Trey Leroux, Tegra Tshabola, Austin Siereveld, Donovan Jackson, Carson Hinzman, Matt Jones, Miles Walker and Julian Jackson.

Additionally, the quarterbacks participating in the NIL deal: Devin Brown, Tristan Gebbia, Chad Ray, Mason Maggs and Lincoln Kienholz.

Of the Ohio State players involved in the deal, Jackson and Jones have the highest On3 NIL Valuations. Jackson’s valuation is $244,000. Jones has an On3 NIL Valuation of $236,000.

The On3 NIL Valuation is the industry’s leading index that sets the standard market NIL value for high school and college athletes. A proprietary algorithm, the On3 NIL Valuation calculates an athlete’s NIL value using dynamic data points targeting three primary categories: performance, influence and exposure.

About On3 NIL Valuation, Brand Value, Roster Value

While the algorithm includes deal data, it does not act as a tracker of the value of NIL deals athletes have completed to date, nor does it set an athlete’s NIL valuation for their entire career. The On3 NIL Valuation calculates the optimized NIL opportunity for athletes relative to the overall NIL market and projects out to as long as 12 months into the future.