LifeWallet signs four Miami football players to NIL deals

John Ruiz has emerged as one of the biggest names in NIL over the past 17 months.

The owner of LifeWallet and Cigarette Racing has used name, image and likeness deals to help promote his companies. He allocated $10 million to spend on compensating student-athletes in Year 1 and plans to grow his investment.

While Ruiz has inked marketing agreements with athletes from across the college athletics landscape, most of the deals he has struck have been with Miami athletes. And similar to any NIL collective in the nation right now, he’s placing an emphasis on roster retention.

Over the past few days, he has re-upped contracts with Miami quarterback Tyler Van Dyke, safety Kamren Kinchens and cornerback Te’Cory Couch.

As part of the agreement, Ruiz is adding a new layer to the activation. Athletes will have a little brother or sister to give back to the Miami community.

“LifeWallet has had a very good experience with NIL Athletes,” Ruiz said in a statement to on3. “As a result, we will be supportive of athletes that provide an ROI to LifeWallet, while having to fulfill their contractual obligations. Starting in 2023, any LifeWallet athlete will be required to have a little brother or little sister, respectively, as one of the ways of giving back to society.

“While many focus on just money and winning, LifeWallet will make sure that the scope of what NIL is truly intended for is carried out.”

Plans are also in place to execute another deal with Ottawa, Ontario, native Akheem Mesidor in Canada during the 2023 calendar year. The West Virginia transfer defensive lineman previously signed with LifeWallet, traveling to Canada in May to fulfill the agreement.

John Ruiz’s return on investment

Since the advent of NIL, Ruiz has worked to sign more than 110 active Miami athletes from football to women’s basketball to baseball.

And while Hurricanes finished just 5-7 in Mario Cristobal‘s first season back in Coral Gables, Ruiz is not judging his return on investment by an on-field product. Because of NIL, the national profile of LifeWallet, Cigarette Racing and Ruiz have all been on the rise.

“I don’t look at the results on the field,” Ruiz said back in November. “Do I want them to be better? Absolutely. Nobody is going to deny that. Do I want the University of Miami to win? Absolutely. Who is going to deny we want the University of Miami to win? I’d want them to win even if I wasn’t putting up a dime for NIL. But my business strategy is completely different than anybody else’s.

“…We’re super happy with our return on investment. We’re super happy with where we are in terms of the branding we’ve done.”

On3 NIL Valuation

Van Dyke is expected to return to Miami next year, as On3’s CaneSport first reported. Represented by Rosenhaus Sports, he’s already signed a handful of lucrative NIL deals. While he had a rocky season, he’s unquestionably the top quarterback talent on the Miami roster.

The quarterback holds an On3 NIL Valuation of $227,000, which ranks in the top 200 of college football.

Kinchens’ On3 NIL Valuation sits slightly ahead of Van Dyke’s at $376,000. The All-ACC First Team safety has led the nation with six interceptions. Crouch holds a $95,000 On3 NIL Valuation.

One of the nation’s top defensive linemen this season, Mesidor has a $219K evaluation.

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.

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.