ASU's Marcus Bagley, Jade Loville Ink NIL Deal With Outback Steakhouse
Arizona State Sun Devils Marcus Bagley and Jade Loville were recently announced as one of 12 college basketball players signed to Outback Steakhouse's TeamMATES program.
Duke: Trevor Keels/Lexi Gordon
UNC: Caleb Love/Deja Kelly
Michigan: Hunter Dickinson/Naz Hillmon
Maryland: Julian Reese/Angel Reese
Villanova: Collin Gillespie/Maddy Siegrist
Arizona State: Marcus Bagley/Jade Loville
Together with TeamMATES and its partnership with Coaches vs Cancer, Outback will be raising awareness and money for the American Cancer Society and other charitable partners.
Bagley has emerged as one of the top players in the Pac-12 during his time in Tempe, although a knee injury hasn't seen him in action since Nov. 15. Loville currently leads Arizona State with an average of 16.5 points per game with a recent upset victory over No. 19 Oregon to add to her resume.
Outback Steakhouse plans to launch a nationwide consumer sweepstakes that will award one lucky fan a grand prize of $10,000 towards a ‘fan cave’ home renovation to watch the big games in March at home this year. A runner-up will be selected and awarded a trip to New Orleans including flights, accommodations and tickets to the National Championship game.
The “Outback Hoop Dreams SweepSTEAKS” will launch in early February.
Outback Steakhouse President Brett Patterson was kind enough to answer a few questions from All Sun Devils about Bagley and Loville.
How was working with Marcus and Jade?
"We identified Marcus and his women’s team counterpart Jade Loville as two players that fit what we were looking to accomplish with Outback TeamMATES, which is celebrate college athletes, engage fans of Outback and of our athletes and bring impact to local communities. Both athletes have been great to work with and are going to be a big part of what we do this winter."
What do you look for when finding athletes for NIL deals?
"We are very strategic when it comes to selecting our TeamMATES. We consider a variety of factors that are important to the brand, but we start with brand fit. If our TeamMATES share similar values with Outback, have a jovial nature about them, carry social influence and national relevance within their sport and want to genuinely impact their community, we are starting from a great place. We can’t partner with every athlete, so we have to make difficult decisions, but we do that with the help of a proprietary scorecard to make more objectives decisions about the athletes that best fit what Outback TeamMATES stands for and how they will impact the overall program."
What are your overall views on Bagley, Loville and Arizona State as a whole market?
"Marcus and Jade are both great players and leaders on their teams. It is unfortunate that Marcus has been injured, but we’re hoping we will see him on the court again soon. Jade is obviously having a great season, leading her team in scoring. Tempe is a strong franchise market for us with the influence that Marcus and Jade have within their respective sports, we saw a great match. We look forward to working with them this winter."
Would you potentially work with any future Sun Devils?
"We would absolutely consider working with additional Sun Devils in the future. We will be adding more athletes in the spring across baseball, softball and track and field. Additionally, a part of the TeamMATES program is an open application for all college athletes to apply. It is broken out by season, and the deadline for spring sport athletes the apply is March 4th. We hope to see a lot of Marcus and Jades’ fellow student-athletes apply to be a part of our team. Selected applicants will receive gift cards ranging in value up to $500 as well as an Outback TeamMATES branded t-shirt. It’s a great part of the program that enables us to reach college athletes on a grassroots level, and we look forward to adding a lot more to the team in 2022."
The new world of NIL deals has certainly transformed the landscape of college sports already, and student-athletes such as Bagley and Loville are a couple of many players to cash in on lucrative opportunities.