Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders first college football player to sign NIL deal with Nike

Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders has become the first college football player to sign an NIL deal with Nike.

He follows in the footsteps of his father, Deion Sanders, who has signature Nike cleats. Shedeur Sanders finished his first season at Colorado with throwing for 3,230 yards and 27 touchdowns. He also threw just three interceptions despite being sacked 52 times in 2023.

Full terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the quarterback signed a footwear and apparel deal with Nike. Because Colorado is a Nike school, Sanders could hypothetically wear any unique Nike apparel or cleats in-game.

One of the NIL stars of college football, he touts over 2.5 million social media followers. Sanders has been cashing in on NIL since 2021. Working closely with SMAC Entertainment and Constance Schwartz-Morini, he’s signed with Gatorade, launched his own barbecue sauce, been tabbed as the BRADY brand’s long-term ambassador and promoted Mercedes Benz.

On his 2Legendary with Shedeur Sanders podcast earlier this week, he said he wanted to build on his father’s Nike legacy.

“I would want to build on it. I want to build on it. Have like a different version,” Sanders said. “But I think the concept, because I feel like it’s more… like now, like just looking at life and looking at everything, it’s more about generational. It’s more about what could be passed down year after year after year after year rather than everybody starting to think they’re a whole new wave and whole new because there’s no real substance behind it.”

Nike has yet to go all-in on NIL in college football. The sportswear giant has been aggressive in basketball, signing names like Bronny James, Juju Watkins and Caitlin Clark. And earlier this week, the Jordan Brand signed a multi-year partnership with USC’s Zion and Zachariah Branch.

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Shedeur Sanders’ massive On3 NIL Valuation

NFL mock drafts have shown Sanders going in the top five. With strong arm strength and accuracy, he completed 69.3% of his throws last season. Colorado opens the season on Thursday night against North Dakota State.

His On3 NIL Valuation is now at $4.7 million, the top-ranked valuation in college football. It’s also No. 1 in the On3 NIL 100, the first of its kind and defacto NIL ranking of the top 100 high school and college athletes ranked by their On3 NIL Valuation.

“Despite what some fans and media believe, there is not an unlimited amount of money being deployed to manage rosters,” said Shannon Terry, the founder and CEO of On3. “Any model – whether it’s today’s broken NCAA ‘student-athlete’ construct or media rights sharing through employment, which is almost a certainty in the near future – demands efficiency based on the athlete and school knowing the athlete’s respective market value.”

The On3 NIL Valuation is calculated by combining Roster Value and personal NIL. Roster value is the value an athlete has by being a member of his or her team at his or her school, which factors into the role of NIL collectives. NIL in an athlete’s name, image and likeness and the value it could bring to regional and national brands outside of the scope of NIL collectives.

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