Shedeur Sanders releases new merchandise, building NIL brand with SS2LEGENDARY

Shedeur Sanders has taken a few pages from his father’s notebook of brand building recently.

The Colorado quarterback is a favorite in the Heisman Trophy race as the end of September nears. With more than 2.1 million social media followers, his NIL portfolio competes with Caleb Williams and Marvin Harrison Jr.

But the youngest son of Deion Sanders is doing something nobody else in college sports has yet to master in the NIL Era: building out an apparel brand. A play on his name, Shedeur Sanders has created the SS2LEGENDARY brand.

Merchandise started populating in December 2021, with a simple red sweatshirt and the “$2” logo, which frequently appears on the apparel. Sanders filed to trademark the mark in February for goods and services, including footwear, sweatshirts athletic apparel, baseball camps and skull caps.

He’s done everything to market the merchandise, too. The Instagram account for the brand has more than 11.3K followers and climbing. Warming up before games, the quarterback is almost always wearing a hat with the “$2.” Following last weekend’s win over Colorado State, he made sure to rock the hat in his postgame interview on ESPN.

The merchandise offering has grown, too. Earlier this month, the quarterback released apparel for the first time that included the Colorado Buffaloes logo along with his last name and the “$2” logo. Not many college athletes have had success trying to secure access to institution’s IP marks outside of group licensing agreements. That’s the power of working with Deion Sanders.

And this week, the quarterback dropped another batch of merchandise. Included was a crew-neck T-shirt with a picture of the quarterback flexing and flashing his Rolex. It’s become a popular move for Sanders to flash. The second crew neck included was a black shirt with a headshot of the Colorado star. Both shirts heavily feature the “$2” logo.

Registered as an LLC, the early success this season has brought plenty of attention to Colorado and his family. But Shedeur Sanders is clearly benefitting, too, with an uptick in orders for his merchandise.

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Shedeur Sanders on-field performance helping NIL value

Entering Week 3, Sanders had impressed with his arm strength and accuracy. But this past weekend, the quarterback showed why he is a legitimate Heisman Trophy contender. With 2:06 remaining in the fourth quarter and needing eight points to tie, he led the Buffaloes on a 98-yard drive.

Picking apart the Colorado State defense, he connected with Jimmy Horn for a 45-yard touchdown pass to draw the Buffs within two points with 36 seconds remaining. Colorado converted the two-point conversion and escaped with a double-overtime win. 

Combining the on-field success with his last name and major social media following, it’s easy to see why brands would want to work with him. His On3 NIL Valuation has jumped $3.7 million in the last 10 weeks. His valuation now sits at $5.1 million, which ranks No. 1 in college football. It’s also No. 2 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. Sanders only trails Bronny James and his $6.1 million On3 NIL Valuation.

The quarterback will get his first taste of the Pac-12 this week, traveling to No. 10 Oregon. Going up against Bo Nix, Sanders will be without one of his top targets, Travis Hunter, who is expected to miss a few weeks with an injury.

Working closely with SMAC Entertainment and Constance Schwartz-Morini, Sanders previously signed with Gatorade, launched his own barbecue sauce, been tabbed as the BRADY brand’s long-term ambassador and promoted Mercedes Benz.