NIL Deals of the Week: Ohio State offensive linemen ink deal with Applebee's, Stetson Bennett signs with AARP

Turns out, NIL does not turn away college football viewership after all.

College football just wrapped up its first full-slated weekend of play. The top-five matchup between Ohio State and Notre Dame averaged 10.53 million viewers on ABC in primetime on Saturday to lead television viewership for all Week 1 games.

The first regular season game to break double-digits last season? Ohio State’s loss at Michigan, which averaged 15.83 million viewers.

Fans love college football. NIL is not driving away fans. And the number of deals are not slowing down. So, with a mission to highlight the top deals every week, the On3 NIL team has identified the noteworthy deals in the college athletics landscape.

As a reminder, feel free to submit info on your NIL deal to On3. You can send an email to [email protected] or reach out via DM or comment on Twitter to @On3NIL or @deals_nil. Direct messages are open, too, on the @On3NIL Instagram account.

Let’s get to the deals that highlighted this week in NIL.

Four Ohio State offensive lineman sign with Applebee’s

Ohio State picked up a statement win in the season opener, knocking off No. 5 Notre Dame this past weekend at Ohio Stadium. The Buckeyes grinded out the 21-10 win. Their offensive line helped pave the way, too, as they established a rushing attack that finished with 172 yards.

And now they’re being rewarded for their work. Donovan Jackson, Dawand Jones, Matt Jones and Luke Wypler all announced deals with Applebee’s on social media Sunday night. NIL Management negotiated all four deals. The contract details were not announced.

“One of the best offensive lines in the country celebrating a big W with our All-You-Can-Eat Boneless Wings,” the casual dining restaurant wrote in a tweet. “Head on into Applebee’s for the next big college game in your neighborhood!”

Dawand Jones holds the highest On3 NIL Valuation of the four, with an evaluation of $369K. Wypler comes in at $100,000, followed by Jackson at $32,000 and Matt Jones at $29k.

Meta launches NIL Empower 2.0 class with 30 female athletes

Meta has unveiled its second NIL Empower class. With a focus on education, mentorship, career coaching and brand connections, 30 women athletes from across nine conferences will have the opportunity to increase their NIL value on Facebook and Instagram.

Each athlete will be associated with a brand as part of the deal. Meta has already signed five athletes to a partnership with the meal-planning company Eat to Perform. The company is still looking to sign on more brands as part of the initiative.

As part of their partnership with the technology conglomerate, athletes will sit in educational sessions with Meta and NIL experts. The classes will include lessons on the best practices on Facebook and Instagram, specifically with a focus on reels and monetization. This will put the student-athletes at an advantage to build their social media following and cash in with their NIL.

It’s another example of the group deals announced in the NIL space this summer, specifically with females. Sprouts Farmers Market signed 50 women to NIL deals to celebrate Title IX’s anniversary. Bumble also announced a very similar deal with 50 more female athletes.

Women have been one of the biggest winners in the NIL Era. Data recently released by Opendorse, which provides technology to the athlete endorsement industry, showed that women who play basketball, volleyball, softball and who compete in swimming or diving rank third through sixth, respectively, in terms of the total compensation earned on the platform, by sport, through the end of May.

A complete list of players that have inked NIL deals with Meta can be found here.

Stetson Bennett signs with AARP, Synovus Bank

Stetson Bennett has added two more NIL deals to his portfolio before the college football season hits high gear. The Georgia quarterback has inked partnerships with AARP and Synovus Bank to his list of partnerships.

He has not executed any of the action items with the company yet. Synovus is a financial services company with approximately $45 billion in assets based in Columbus, Georgia. AARP is a fitting deal for the quarterback, too, as he turns 25 on Oct. 28.

According to his NIL agent, Jeff Hoffman of Everett Sports Management, the quarterback is nearing $1 million worth of NIL deals. He signed deals with Fanatics and Georgia Power earlier this offseason. And he signed with Raising Cane’s quickly after the national championship win.

Bennett’s On3 NIL evaluation has spiked to $937,000 following his Week 1 performance. It’s a $238,000 bump from a week ago. The valuation ranks in the top 25 of the NIL 100 and No. 14 in the college football NIL rankings.

His social media following has continued to climb after he secured Georgia’s first national title since 1980. He currently has 97,000 followers between his Twitter and Instagram accounts, holding a per post value of $2,700.

TreVeyon Henderson, Ohio State offensive line ink NIL deal with Chipotle

TreVeyon Henderson shined a year ago, capturing Freshman All-American honors. The Ohio State running back rushed for the second-most yards in school history by a freshman with 1,248 yards. He set a program record with 19 touchdowns in his first season in Columbus.

All of it has set him up to excel in the NIL space. He’s previously inked deals with American Eagle, Ricart Automotive, FTX and Homage. And this past week he added Chipotle to his list of partnerships. Making it more original than most NIL partnerships was the role Ohio State played in executing the deal. He appeared in a Buckeye uniform and the athletic department’s Twitter account shared the NIL ad.

Plus, Buckeyes legend and Heisman winner Archie Griffin narrated the commercial. As part of the deal, Henderson made sure to include his starting offensive linemen in the deal:  Donovan Jackson, Paris Johnson, Dawand Jones, Matt Jones and Luke Wypler were all compensated for their work in the ad.

Henderson currently holds an On3 NIL Valuation of $923,000. The evaluation ranks No. 24 in the NIL 100 and No. 15 amongst all college football players. The running back also has more than 100,000 social media followers, leading to his per post value of $1.6K.

Here is what Henderson and his offensive line order at Chipotle:

TreVeyon Henderson: Burrito with white rice, pinto beans, steak, fresh tomato salsa, cheese and guac.

Donovan Jackson: Burrito with white rice, double chicken, tomatillo-red chili salsa, sour cream, cheese, lettuce and guac.

Paris Johnson: Bowl with half white rice, half brown rice, double chicken, fresh tomato salsa, roasted chili-corn salsa, sour cream and cheese.

Dawand Jones: Burrito with white rice, double chicken, tomatillo-red chili salsa, sour cream, cheese, lettuce and guac.

Matt Jones: Burrito with white rice, half chicken, half steak, fresh tomato salsa, roasted chili-corn salsa, sour cream, cheese, and lettuce and a bag of chips with sour cream on the side. 

Luke Wypler: Bowl with half white rice, half brown rice, chicken, sour cream, cheese and lettuce.

Honorable Mention

• LSU could soon sign an athletic-department wide NIL deal. Louisiana-based delivery service ASAP, previously known as Waitr, has offered all Tigers student-athletes a NIL partnership for the launch of the academic year.
• Bryce Young dropped the latest ad in his work with Dr Pepper. The Alabama quarterback seems to have a knack for performing when the lights come on.
• Every Grambling State athlete will have the opportunity to individually appear in an ad in Times Square to promote HBCU League Pass+ through an NIL deal. HBCU League Pass+ is a live, on-demand sports network that’s focused on historically Black colleges and universities.
• The digital platform HEIR is sponsoring NFT JAM, an event described as an “immersive two-day brand experience,” which will feature a full-court, two-on-two basketball tournament. Eighteen high school basketball players, including at least a handful of blue-chip recruits, are scheduled to participate.