Colorado's Travis Hunter signs NIL deal with American Eagle

Travis Hunter continues to impress on and off the field.

The Colorado cornerback and wide receiver entered the Heisman Trophy conversation in the first two weeks of the year, playing 274 snaps. A sitting Power 5 head coach characterized him to On3 as a “freak.”

But he lacerated his liver following a big hit in the third game of the season against Colorado State. While he missed time with his injury, he connected with Colorado State safety Henry Blackburn, who delivered the late hit that caused the injury.

Despite missing three games, he’s still one of the most electric players. Touting a major social media following and playing at Colorado, he’s an attractive name for brands. The two-way player announced a new NIL partnership with American Eagle on Friday night on Instagram.

Through the agreement, he’ll be promoting the company on his social media accounts. In his initial post on Friday, Hunter called American Eagle’s clothes his “off the field comfort.” The clothing retailer has been a spender in the NIL space, working with names like LSU gymnast Livvy Dunne, UCLA softball player Maya Brady and former Ohio State quarterback CJ Stroud.

Hunter will help grow American Eagle’s brand visibility through the partnership.

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Hunter made his return two weeks ago at Stanford, playing 157 snaps with 13 catches for 140 yards and two touchdowns. On the defensive side of the ball, Stanford only completed one of the first six passes when they threw it at Hunter. Then, the rest of the way, they were 10 of 13 for 153 yards and two touchdowns.

And this past week during Colorado’s bye, he was sitting on the sidelines at the Denver Nuggets’ home opener with Shedeur Sanders.

Travis Hunter’s growing NIL brand

Five years ago, for example, Travis Hunter would be catching national headlines and popping up in early Heisman Trophy conversations. He’s still doing that. But thanks to name, image and likeness, the two-way star is monetizing his publicity rights.

His social media following has seen a notable uptick this season, now sitting at more than 1.9 million. Beyond Instagram, X and TikTok, however, he’s built a major YouTube page.

With more than 272,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel, he is able to profit from the videos he posts. His coach also runs a successful YouTube page, managed by Deion Sanders Jr. and named “Well Off Media.”

Past the YouTube success, Hunter has long-term contracts with the Michael Strahan Brand, Actively Black, SoHoodie and NXTRND. He’s tapped into his fishing hobby through NIL, inking deals with WaterLand Co., KastKing and Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits.

Earlier this season, he re-signed his endorsement deal with Celsius Fitness Drinks. And he’s giving back with custom cleats through a partnership with 7-Eleven. The cornerback and wide receiver is repped by SMAC Entertainment and Constance Schwartz-Morini.

Hunter holds a $2.2 million On3 NIL Valuation, which is a $713,000 increase over the last 10 weeks. The valuation is No. 4 in college football. It is also No. 6 in the On3 NIL 100, the first of its kind and defacto NIL ranking of the top 100 high school and college athletes ranked by their On3 NIL Valuation.

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.