Houston basketball team inks six-figure NIL deal with Loot8

The Houston-driven NIL collective LinkingCoogs is back to making major waves in the space.

The collective brokered a mid-six-figure deal with Loot8 on Friday with the Cougars’ men’s basketball team. Facilitated along with Perpetual Sports, the agreement is with Loot8, a subsidiary of Gold Rock Holding.

The Houston team will begin to work with Loot8, a social media technology, which describes itself as platform for creator-controlled channels that targets athletes, artists, creators and brands to connect with their communities fans.

Houston is currently ranked No. 3 in the nation with a 21-3 record, ranked first in the Big 12. The announcement comes ahead of the Cougars in-state matchup with Texas on Saturday.

“On behalf of TheLinkU, we are thrilled to announce this innovative partnership between the University of Houston basketball team and Loot8/Perpetual Sports,” said Landon Goesling, the vice president of sales at TheLinkU which manages LinkingCoogs. “We believe in the vision of this partnership and continue to strive to build lasting partnerships and opportunities with great companies that benefit our student athletes.”

The agreement opens up financial opportunities for Houston players, but also serves as a launching point for future NIL deals with various Cougars athletic programs.

Loot8 earns revenue by taking a 10% fee on all transactions, including subscriptions to creator passports and sales of digital collectibles. The announcement of its partnership with Houston coincides with Loot8’s beta launch.

“Our partnership with the University of Houston Basketball team, facilitated by TheLinkU and Perpetual Sports, showcases our dedication to supporting the next generation of athletes,” said Marcus Daley, the CEO of Loot8. “Loot8 as a truly unique, emerging platform is thrilled to be at the forefront of providing NIL opportunities that recognize and reward the talents and hard work of these student-athletes.”

Houston basketball building strong NIL structure

Along with its 21-3 record, Houston is 8-3 in the Big 12, widely-considered the top basketball league in the nation. Guard L.J. Cryer is averaging 14.8 points per game while Jamal Shead is averaging 12.7 points and 5.8 assists.

With the jump to the Big 12, Houston has had to compete in the ever-evolving NIL landscape. Kelvin Sampson’s program clearly hasn’t had any struggle making the jump, thanks in part to the Cougars succeeding in the NIL arms race.

Goesling told On3 that with Friday’s announcement, Houston basketball is extremely competitive across the landscape.

“LinkingCoogs has brought the University of Houston basketball to the forefront of annual NIL funds,” he said.

The Cougars signed a team-wide agreement with Daspit Law Firm this fall that was worth upwards of $350,000. While Daspit’s commitment to Houston basketball marked another significant moment, it was not the largest deal LinkingCoogs has facilitated for the players. 

Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale signed another team-wide NIL deal with the Cougars valued at $1 million back in July. It was the second time in less than a year the owner of Houston’s Gallery Furniture and notorious sports bettor has committed upwards of seven figures to the Cougars.

Goesling is a former Houston guard and grad assistant. Through Linking Coogs and LinkU, the recipe of NIL has been successful in the Rocket City. Instead of focusing on donor dollars, LinkU has served as a marketing firm searching for NIL deals with businesses. LinkU is now in use at Florida Atlantic, Texas State, North Texas and the College of Charleston.

“To see how far we’ve come and the momentum we’ve gained obviously speaks a lot to our university and everyone on staff at the university, all of our student-athletes and great membership partners,” Goesling previously told On3. “But most importantly, our hard work. It’s kind of a snowball effect, right?”