Ohio State's Marvin Harrison Jr., Miyan Williams to headline Columbus youth football camp

A cast of Ohio State football players are set to hold a youth camp in Columbus later this month. Thanks to NIL, the athletes will be able to turn a profit.

Run through an NIL partnership with Next Gen Camps, Champion, City Wide Facility Solutions and Raising Cane’s have stepped in as sponsors. Ohio State receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., tight end Cade Stover, running back Miyan Williams, defensive back Denzel Burke and EDGE Jack Sawyer will all be at the camp on Wednesday, July 12.

Open to kids from kindergarten to eighth grade, the event will last from 5-8 p.m. Held at Ohio State’s Woody Hayes Athletic Center, the cost to register is $175. Camp participants will be able to grab autographs and pictures with athletes, receive a camp T-shirt, go through position group training and participate in a seven-on-seven tournament.

A finalist for the Biletnikoff Award, Harrison had 77 catches for 1,263 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2022. He’s started to take advantage of his marketability, recently launching a memorabilia website. Despite dealing with an injury throughout the season, Williams played in 11 games while racking up 825 and 14 touchdowns.

Stover could have left for the NFL, but he decided to return to Columbus for another year. The linebacker-turned-tight end averaged 11.6 yards per catch with five touchdowns last year. Plus, Sawyer appears primed to have a breakout season. The former Five-Star Plus+ prospect had 4.5 sacks in his sophomore year.

A Freshman All-American, Burke struggled at times in his second year with the Buckeyes. But the 6-foot-1, 190-pound cornerback has experience with 24 starts.

Youth camps continue to provide reliable NIL opportunities

Since the inception of NIL in July 2021, youth camps have become a popular way for athletes to monetize their publicity rights. It’s an easy way to provide fans and kids access to some of their favorite players. Plus, an opportunity to give back to their college’s community while creating a direct source of deal funding.

Next Gen takes on the logistic work of camps, from securing venues and coaches along with the other business basic necessities.

“I think it’s also something that’s sustainable in the NIL space,” NextGen founder Jacob Byrd previously told On3. “As things shift as far as rules and guidelines, we see youth sports camps as something that’ll stay around for a long time.”

The company has partnered with a number of high-profile names, including Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud, Texas running back Bijan Robinson, Alabama edge rusher Will Anderson, and North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye. Florida State‘s Jordan Travis and Trey Benson held a camp last month. Next Gen has also put on women’s soccer camps with athletes at Ohio State and Kentucky.

On top of taking care of the details, the firm ensures enough staff are on-site to handle the number of campers. On average, football camps draw more than 200 campers, while basketball brings in roughly 150 campers. 

Byrd used to run tennis camps, which gave him the infrastructure and confidence to run the NIL model. The profit split with the athlete depends on the number of kids who attend the camps.

Marvin Harrison Jr. leads Buckeyes in On3 NIL Valuation

The top wide receiver in college football has a $1.2 million On3 NIL Valuation. Harrison has more than 365,000 social media followers and has recently inked NIL deals with Mark Wahlberg Chevrolet of Columbus and The Foundation. His valuation ranks No. 10 in college football and No. 14 in the On3 NIL 100, which is the first of its kind and defacto NIL ranking of the top 100 high school and college athletes ranked by their On3 NIL Valuation.

Williams holds a $755,000 On3 NIL Valuation, while Stover’s sits at $371,000. Burke has found NIL success, inking agreements with Kane Footwear and American Eagle. He is valued at $327K.

Sawyer has a $103,000 On3 NIL Valuation, which will only grow if he has a strong 2023 campaign.

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.

About On3 NIL Valuation, Brand Value, Roster Value

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 calculates the optimized NIL opportunity for athletes relative to the overall NIL market and projects out to as long as 12 months into the future.