South Carolina's GG Jackson signs trading card NIL deal with Topps

In August, South Carolina announced it signed a two-year agreement with Everett Sports Marketing (ESM), which created a subsidiary called Park Avenue to help the school’s athletes with their NIL opportunities. On Thursday, Park Avenue announced on Twitter freshman power forward GG Jackson, a former On3 Consensus five-star recruit who flipped from North Carolina and reclassified in July, has signed a “major trading card deal” with Topps.

@_ggjackson has signed a major trading card deal with @Topps – one of the most iconic brands in the industry! Park Avenue teamed up with @nyliee1 and LaKeysha Alston on this partnership! pic.twitter.com/KR0xH3k02O

— Park Avenue (@parkavesports_) September 29, 2022

Similar to USC‘s agreement with the media agency Stay Doubted, which created a subsidiary called BLVD for Trojans athletes, South Carolina’s contract with ESM could be a sign of the future, as universities contract services that are often provided by independent NIL collectives.

The phrase NIL collective is a catch-all term for various organizations, including marketing agencies, non-profit organizations and LLCs, which are typically formed by alumni or fans of a university in order to help athletes with their NIL opportunities. You can view the On3 NIL collectives database here.

High-profile college athletes, particularly in football and men’s basketball, have signed NIL deals with trading card companies. Athletes are typically paid a per-signature price, such as $2 or $5, as part of NIL deals that are often valued in the four or low-five figures.

GG Jackson’s On3 NIL Valuation

Jackson has an On3 NIL Valuation of $404,000, in part because of his 35,000-plus Instagram followers.

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, including an athlete’s performance, exposure and influence.

The On3 NIL Valuation doesn’t track the value of the NIL deals an athlete has agreed upon to date, nor does it set an athlete’s market value for the athlete’s entire career. It projects an athlete’s market value for up to 12 months in the future.

The On3 NIL 100 is the first of its kind and the defacto NIL ranking of the top 100 high school and college athletes ranked by their On3 NIL Valuations. Jackson could soon crack the On3 NIL 100. As of Sept. 29, Minnesota running back Mohamed Ibrahim ranks No. 100 with an On3 NIL Valuation of $452,000 and college basketball practices only recently started.

Jackson has also signed with Carolina Rise, one of the four collectives, marketing agencies or NIL clubs that have been established to support South Carolina athletes with their NIL opportunities.