Louisiana Ragin Cajun football players sign NIL deal with law firm

Two Louisiana Ragin Cajuns football players signed a NIL deal with New Iberia, La., law firm Haik, Minvielle, Grubbs and D’Albor. Cornerback Trey Amos and defensive lineman Zi’yon Hill are both natives of New Iberia, and Eric Haik of HMGD said that the deal was a way of celebrating local athletes who were doing things the right way.

“When this NIL deal all came about, the light bulbs went off for us,” Haik said. “We knew that we wanted to be involved, in some form or fashion, and as we began to learn more about what a NIL agreement was, we knew which players we wanted to go after and that was two of New Iberia’s own stellar student-athletes that went to Catholic High School. They had unprecedented success at the high school level and now they’re having unprecedented success at the DI level.

“We knew that we wanted to hook up with those guys to sign them to Iberia Parish’s first NIL agreements and hopefully shine some light on these guys and let other businesses know that there are plenty of local athletes that have come out of Iberia Parish and are welcoming some kind of NIL agreement.”

The two will act as brand ambassadors for the law firm. That will include having them promote the law firm through social media, print and online media. Having grown up in New Iberia gives their relationship with the law firm more legitimacy.

There are no details currently available about any compensation that Amos and Hill will receive.

“You’re going to spend the money anyway on advertising, why not use it in this format and help benefit these kids who are doing things the right way,” Haik went on to say.

Louisiana has worked hard for NIL deals

Since the start of NIL, schools like Louisiana have worked to build up their brands. They’ve had to do so in the shadow of larger schools. In Louisiana’s case, they exist in the same state as LSU.

One way Louisiana has been aggressive is by utilizing the ULTRA program from Brand Russo. The program combines education and opportunities in the NIL space. That means educating student-athletes about things like taxes. Then, the program helps them reach out to local brands.