Clemson Tigers Baseball Working Closely With MLB Star on Unique NIL Deal

The Clemson Tigers baseball team is going to set itself apart with apparel on the field with the help of an MLB star.

New York Yankees third baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. watches Clemson beat Syracuse near baseball coach Erik Bakich during the second half at Littlejohn Coliseum in Clemson, S.C Wednesday, January 22, 2025. / Ken Ruinard - The Greenville News / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Clemson Tigers baseball team has started the 2025 campaign off on the right foot, winning their first two games against the Oklahoma State Cowboys and Arizona Wildcats.

They have been doing it in style, too, with a unique partnership via name, image and likeness deal with Absolutely Ridiculous. Taking the lead with an active role in the leadership is New York Yankees star second baseman, Jazz Chisholm Jr.

The director of culture and part owner in the company spent time with the team, going undercover as a “Tiger for the Day”. He took part in some drills on the field, caught footballs from the football team’s star quarterback Cade Klubnik and attempted to hit tennis balls pitched from the mound.

“This Clemson partnership is one of my favorite collaborations so far since I never had the opportunity to go or play in college,” he said, via Caleb Mezzy of The Athletic.

During Chisholm’s stay with the team, he encouraged players to take an active role in collaboration with the company. Players are going to be outfitted for fielding gloves and sliding mitts from an array of options.

Coach Erik Bakich sees this as an excellent opportunity for the players on the team and the program as a whole.

“In the world we are in, in college baseball with rev(enue) share and different types of NIL opportunities, any way we can shine the spotlight on our players, put the spotlight on them, create some unique opportunities for them to be different, we want to do that,” he told reporters when announcing the partnership.

Showcasing personality and individuality is the goal of Chisholm and Absolutely Ridiculous. They have big plans for their partnership with Clemson that is going to span at least two years.

For the first year, players will select a glove from previous designs that were made. It will then be customized to fit their personality and anything can be added to the design. If a player happens to play multiple positions in the field, they will receive multiple gloves.

For the sliding mitts, three designs are going to be available — one featuring the school’s lettermark, one with the paw logo and the last with the team’s mascot.

For the 2026 season, there is an expectation that the partnership will be more design-focused and that players will get to work more closely with the company on customized looks.

Bakich has been doing everything he can to build a culture that everyone loves within the program.

It has certainly bred a lot of success in the early going, as the team went 88-35 in his first two campaigns at the helm.

The partnership with Absolutely Ridiculous is only the next step in continuing to cultivate that culture, as the tone was set when the Tigers took part in an exhibition against the Savannah Bananas last fall.

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