Tennessee quarterback Joe Milton signs NIL deal with Beats by Dre, gifts team headphones

Joe Milton has set himself up to succeed this fall.

The Tennessee quarterback went undefeated in two starts last fall, leading the Vols to a win over Clemson as he earned Orange Bowl MVP honors. This offseason has been filled with videos of the fifth-year player showing off his arm strength at the Manning Passing Academy.

Josh Heupel has been a major reason why Tennessee is relevant again in college football. Milton, the one-time starting quarterback at Michigan, will have the chance to put the Vols in the top tier of the SEC this season.

He’ll be one of the most closely-followed quarterbacks in the country this fall and his latest NIL deal proves it. The former four-star prospect has entered into an NIL partnership with Beats by Dre. As part of the agreement, he has gifted his entire team Beats Studio Pro wireless headphones, which sell at retail for $349.99.

Beats by Dre and Bose have emerged as two major spenders in the NIL era. Beats signed a handful of notable athletes, including Caleb Williams, Bijan Robinson and Bronny James. The brand also mounted a college basketball campaign in March, signing Drew Timme along with North Carolina’s Deja Kelly, Stanford’s Haley Jones and Kansas’ Gradey Dick.

In recent days, both companies have used NIL deals to gift major college football brands headphones. Drew Allar signed with Bose, gifting his Penn State offensive line headphones. Notre Dame‘s Sam Hartman followed earlier this week, entering an endorsement deal with Beats by Dre.

NIL deals that provide value to an athlete’s teammates have become an increasingly popular move for athletes. They haven’t been limited to audio gear either. LSU‘s Angel Reese gave her LSU teammates COACH bags last season.

Milton has the trust of the Tennessee locker room and coaching staff after two seasons in Knoxville. Close with former starting quarterback Hendon Hooker, many inside the Vols program believe he can be one of college football’s top quarterbacks this season.

Joe Milton’s growing NIL brand

The Tennessee quarterback had the job won entering spring practice. Obviously Nico Iamaleava, the most highly-touted quarterback recruit since Peyton Manning, enrolled early. But despite the talent, Iamaleava still needs time to learn the Vols’ system and settle into college life.

As the starter, Milton has seen multiple NIL opportunities come his way. He re-signed his NIL deal with The Volunteer Club back in January, basically announcing he would be back in Knoxville for his final year of college eligibility.

Run by Spyre Sports Group, the NIL collective supports Tennessee student-athletes through a monthly membership program. To date, it’s distributed more than $13.5 million in NIL deals to athletes. As part of Milton’s deal with the Vol Club, he’s made appearances at a number of events.

Joe Milton also participated in an event back in March at Dick’s House of Sport in Knoxville with Shedeur Sanders hosted by the BRADY brand. The two quarterbacks hosted a youth camp at the facility after speaking on a panel.

Tennessee quarterback’s major On3 NIL Valuation

Joe Milton has a $838,000 On3 NIL Valuation, which ranks in the top 30 of the college football NIL rankings. His valuation sits at No. 36 in the On3 NIL 100, which is the first of its kind and defacto NIL ranking of the top 100 high school and college athletes ranked by their On3 NIL Valuation.

As the starting quarterback at Tennessee entering the fall, more brands will want to align with him. If he can piece together a strong start, beginning Week 1 when Virginia travels to Knoxville, national brands entering the space will seriously consider working with Milton.

The quarterback has more than 112,000 social media followers, with 91K coming just from Instagram. 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 calculates the optimized NIL opportunity for athletes relative to the overall NIL market and projects out to as long as 12 months into the future.