Dick's Sporting Goods signs NIL deals with eight athletes ahead of Final Four

Dick’s Sporting Goods is making the most of its partnership with the NCAA.

The company signed on earlier this month as the official sports retailer of the college athletics’ governing body, which includes all 90 of its men’s and women’s championships. Dick’s also owns multiple exclusive category sponsorship rights attached to the men’s and women’s Final Four, such as the kid’s zone and mascot university.

Ahead of this weekend’s games, the brand has signed NIL deals with eight college basketball players. Fans will be able to take virtual holographic photos with the players at the fan fests in Dallas and Houston.

South Carolina‘s Aliyah Boston, Stanford‘s Haley Jones, Villanova‘s Maddie Siegrist and Indiana‘s Mackenzie Holmes have all inked agreements with Dick’s. On the men’s side, Gonzaga‘s Drew Timme, UCLA‘s Jaime Jaquez, Kansas‘ Jalen Wilson and Houston‘s Marcus Sasser have all signed on.

G3 Marketing facilitated the deals on behalf of Dick’s. In the past couple of weeks, multiple NCAA partners have chosen to spend marketing dollars in NIL. Buick launched the “See Her Greatness” campaign, signing deals with five women’s basketball stars. Continental Tire also launched partnerships with a trio of men’s basketball athletes; the social media promotional material has appeared on a variety of platforms through the Big Dance.

Dick’s is the latest major company to join the conversation. Terms of the agreements were not disclosed. The sports retail brand is not new to the NIL space. It has previously worked with a variety of athletes, including Louisville‘s Hailey Van Lith, South Carolina’s Zia Cooke and Alabama‘s Montana Fouts.

Along with the exclusive category sponsorship rights, it will have on-court signage at events this weekend. Dick’s is also expected to have a presence at women’s Final Four open practices, which has not had an active on-site sponsor in recent years.

Dick’s aligns with top NIL talent

Drew Timme and Gonzaga were bounced in the Elite Eight, falling to UConn. Timme has a $903,000 On3 NIL Valuation, which ranks No. 3 in college basketball. He also participated in the ContinentalTire campaign and recently signed with Beats by Dre and Pringles.

Jaquez has an $847,000 valuation while Sasser holds an $801,000 valuation. They sit at No. 5 and No. 6, respectively, in the college NIL rankings. Kansas small forward Jalen Wilson has had plenty of NIL success this year; he has a $479,000 On3 NIL Valuation.

Aliyah Boston is the reigning National Player of the Year and has South Carolina back in the Final Four. She signed with Under Armour after last year’s national title and currently has a $104,000 On3 NIL Valuation.

Jones ranks No. 20 in women’s basketball with an $83,000 valuation.

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 accounts for an athlete’s roster value and brand value. 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. Brand value factors in an athlete’s personal brand and the value it could bring to regional and national brands outside of the scope of NIL collectives.