NIL Deals of the Week: Brock Bowers building brand, 1Oklahoma ramping up activations

Nakos updated headshotby:Pete Nakos•10/27/22•

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Championship season is coming and there will be NIL ramifications.

The College Football Playoff releases its first set of rankings Tuesday. The Heisman race has come down to three or so names — hello, Hendon Hooker, C.J. Stroud and Blake Corum. All the rivalry games that have been highlighted on the calendar are 30 days away.

The outcomes and results will directly impact NIL activity. Major names on teams playing for a CFP berth will see some notable deals come their way. And as the Heisman race comes to a head, brands are going to want to cash in.

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.

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Georgia tight end adds deal with Morgan & Morgan

Brock Bowers continues to capitalize on and off the field. The Georgia tight end has 26 catches for 393 yards and two touchdowns this season. And on just three carries on the ground, he has 82 yards and three touchdowns.

He added another major NIL deal to his portfolio on Wednesday. Bowers inked a three-month agreement with Morgan & Morgan, the nation’s largest injury firm. One of the biggest players in NIL, it was one of the first law firms to sign college athletes to endorsement contracts last year.

Brokered by Everett Sports Marketing, which serves as his NIL representation, Bowers will be featured on billboards in Athens, Atlanta, Savannah and throughout Georgia. The contract also calls for a social media component for the sophomore.

The Georgia tight end has only ramped up his NIL activity following his breakout freshman season. In Year 1 with the Bulldogs, Bowers delivered a national championship and led the team in receiving yards and touchdowns.

All of it made for a strong NIL foundation which he’s carried into this fall. He first signed on with Associated Credit Union, then inked a long-term agreement with fast-food chain Zaxby’s. NOBULL then announced agreements with Bowers, Josh Downs, Zach Charbonnet, Will Levis and Bryce Young back in August. That came only a day after the athletic training brand was announced as the official combine training partner of the NFL.

Even better for Bowers is he’ll be back for another year. He currently holds an On3 NIL evaluation of $1.1 million and ranks No. 16 in the NIL 100.

Outback Steakhouse returns to NIL for second year

Outback Steakhouse announced the second class of its TeamMATES NIL program earlier this week. The Australian-themed restaurant chain launched one of the first multi-player Name, Image and Likeness campaigns last fall. And now it has added 13 more athletes to its roster.

The announcement coincides with the launch of the “Steak it to the House” campaign, which will take tailgates and team meals up another level.

Outback plans to give back to fans as part of its NIL campaign. Wisconsin running back Braelon Allen and Georgia tailback Kendall Milton each have limited-edition, Outback-themed NFTs dropping on Thursday. The non-fungible tokens will be redeemable for prizes, including signed memorabilia and gift cards.

The new members of Outback’s TeamMATES program include:

Since the inception of NIL, Outback has partnered with more than 80 athletes at 38 schools across 15 NCAA sports. Those numbers now include this year’s addition of college football players.

Each athlete tabbed by Outback is in the restaurant’s footprint. Outback returning to NIL and college football for a second consecutive year is evidence that major brands are seeing the return on investments needed.

Plans are in place for the steakhouse to return to NIL with new additions for basketball and baseball season.

1Oklahoma ramps up NIL activity

1Oklahoma – the nonprofit collective founded by a group of businessmen and Hall of Fame Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer – appeared to take a backseat. Some in the Norman market wondered if the collective was going to close its doors, especially with the recent launch of university-backed Crimson and Cream.

The 501(c)(3) organization has now struck major NIL deals this week with two of the biggest names associated with Oklahoma athletics. 1Oklahoma announced a partnership with receiver and fan-favorite Drake Stoops on Tuesday, following it up with softball star Tiare Jennings on Wednesday.

There’s no doubt that the Stoops and Jennings deals bring notoriety. The son of former Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops, Drake has more than 22,000 Instagram followers. And presumably, most are fans or closely follow Sooner football.

Softball at Oklahoma is just as popular and followed by fans as football. Back-to-back national champions will do that. Jennings had a lot to do with that, batting at .433 the last two seasons with 56 home runs and 179 RBIs.

When it launched, 1Oklahoma said it hoped to pay football players between $40,000 and $50,000 for NIL partnerships. Terms of the agreements were not shared with On3. But each signal a possible change in the Oklahoma collective market. Including Crimson and Cream and 1Oklahoma, there are four active, booster-driven organizations operating on campus.

Interestingly, in the deal announcements from 1Oklahoma, the collective called itself the “approved collective of the Sooners.” When it launched in mid-October, Crimson and Cream touted that they had “university support.”

1Oklahoma is set to announce another NIL deal this week, expected to be from the football ranks. Oklahoma boosters are going to have some decisions to make on which collective they contribute to.

The Volunteer Club, Lady Vol Boost Her Club partner for AT&T Fiber deal

The Volunteer Club and Lady Vol Boost Her Club collaborated this week to bring NIL opportunities to Tennessee athletes in multiple sports. Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker has signed on next to Lady Vol basketball players Tamari Key, Sara Puckett and Jordan Walker. The four Vols will be promoting AT&T Fiber services used throughout Knoxville.

The deal calls for athletes to promote the company on their social media channels. It marks the first time the telecommunications brand has struck any type of Name, Image and Likeness partnership. The AT&T Fiber portion of the company services nearly 150,000 homes and businesses around the Knoxville area.

It’s the first NIL deal AT&T has executed. And it’s another landmark agreement in a long list that Spyre Sports Group, a sports marketing agency based in Knoxville, has helped facilitate.

Honorable Mention

  • The V Foundation for Cancer Research and the NC State women’s basketball team have partnered to through NIL agreements to raise money and awareness for breast cancer research during National Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October. The partnership has already raised more than $5,200, according to a spokesperson with Pack of Wolves, the NC State collective that facilitated the NIL deals and got the fundraiser off the ground.
  • UCLA quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson signed a deal with Activision, promoting the video game, “Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time.” It could provide a glimpse of what partnerships will look like when EA releases its college football game.
  • Tennessee wide receiver Cedric Tillman has inked an agreement with Bojangles, promoting the regional fast-food chain’s Tennessee-themed Big Bo Box. The boxes can be filled with eight, 12 or 20-piece chicken and served with biscuits, sides and iced tea.
  • Four-star running back and LSU commitment Trey Holly became the latest high school prospect in Louisiana to execute a NIL deal with Gordon McKernan Injury Attorneys.
  • Oregon basketball commits Jackson Shelstad and Sofia Bell have inked deals with Portland Gear, becoming some of the first high school student-athletes to sign NIL contracts in the state’s history.