Texas Longhorn football players Isaiah Bond, Michael Taaffe land Lamborghini NIL deals
Lamborghini Austin announced Thursday that Texas Longhorns football players Isaiah Bond and Michael Taaffe were selected as the dealership’s 2024 NIL partners.
The dealership – which has become a staple for deals with Longhorn standouts since the dawn of the NIL Era – said Bond and Taaffe were selected for the promotional agreement because of their “strong academic achievements, community leadership and success on the field.”
Bond, a junior receiver, is a former four-star recruit from Buford High School in Georgia. He transferred to Texas after two successful seasons as a star wide receiver at Alabama.
Bond enters the 2024 season as a preseason second-team All-SEC pick. He amassed 48 catches for 668 yards and four touchdowns in 2023, with none bigger than the miraculous game-winning catch he made against Auburn in the Iron Bowl, saving Alabama’s season.
Taaffe, a junior safety, is a former walk-on from Austin Westlake. He’s played in 27 games with 10 starts in his Longhorn career, and he was named honorable mention All-Big 12 after the 2023 season.
“The Lamborghini Austin Promotional Partner Program rewards student-athletes for success in the classroom, contributions to their community and performance in sports,” Bruce Knox, managing partner of Lamborghini Austin, said in a release.
“Our committee selected two outstanding student-athletes who took a unique path on their University of Texas journey, who achieved success in the classroom as well as on the field, and who will join forces to lead the Longhorns in their first year of competition in the SEC.”
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Past Lamborghini Austin promotional partners include past and current standouts like Bijan Robinson, Jaylan Ford, Jake Majors and Jordan Whittington. Lamborghinis from the dealership are also an essential part of recruiting weekends in Austin since Steve Sarkisian took over as the Longhorns’ head coach.
Isaiah Bond has massive On3 NIL Valuation
Isaiah Bond holds an On3 NIL Valuation of $643,000, which sits at No. 75 in the On3 NIL 100.
With more than 171,000 social media followers and the Texas brand behind him, his NIL value will only rise. His Roster Value is also high as one of the top players in college football.
“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.