Bronny James signs NIL deal with Beats by Dre

Bronny James, the oldest son of LeBron James and the No. 1 athlete in the On3 NIL 100, signed an NIL deal with Beats by Dre. James is the first high school athlete to sign with the popular headphones company, which has also partnered with high-profile athletes such as USC quarterback Caleb Williams.

The announcement comes just a week after Nike signed five high school or college basketball players to NIL deals, including the younger James.

Beats by Dre released a commercial on YouTube on Monday titled “LeBron James’ Legacy Continues with Bronny.” LeBron James misses a deep 3-pointer that clanks off the front of the rim and the video cuts to Bronny, who rebounds the ball.

Bronny James shows off his handles, then sinks a couple jumpers.

“Main event right here now,” LeBron James says to his son, both of whom are wearing Beats by Dre headphones. “Check ball.” Bronny dribbles around his father, then dunks.

The commercial, which is set at different points to rap and classical music, shows father and son nailing shot after shot until LeBron James receives a call. “OK, Mom want to know sushi or tacos,” he says to Bronny. After Bronny asks for sushi and LeBron orders tacos, the video cuts to text that says, “The legacy continues.”

LeBron James partnered with Beats by Dre in 2008 as the company’s first brand ambassador.

The commercial ends with LeBron James setting up Bronny for an alley-oop off the backboard.

Bronny James’ On3 NIL Valuation

James is a 6-foot-3 combo guard who attends Sierra Canyon School. He’s a four-star prospect who’s ranked No. 44 in the 2023 recruiting class, according to On3 Consensus.

This fall, James took an unofficial visit to Ohio State, a school of which his father has been a longtime fan. In addition to Ohio State, James has received offers from Memphis, North Carolina A&T, North Carolina Central and USC.

Thanks in part to roughly 6.7 million followers on Instagram and 5.6 million followers on TikTok, Bronny James has an On3 NIL Valuation of $7.4 million, which is roughly $4 million more than Arch Manning, who ranks second in the On3 NIL 100.

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

The On3 NIL 100 is the first-of-its-kind, defacto NIL ranking of the top 100 high school and college athletes ranked by their market value.