NIL Moving Forward at Rapid Pace Within LSU Athletics
The groundbreaking customized jersey announcement made to end the week is the kind of move that establishes LSU as a real threat in NIL. For the first time, athletes are set to make money based on personalized jersey sales, a deal nearly the entire 2022 roster has signed on for.
But Friday's decision is not only a culmination of many weeks of hard work from local business leaders and those within the LSU athletic department. It's also just the tip of the iceberg. There's a lot of positive momentum gaining within the LSU athletic department as well as local business leaders about how to help benefit these student athletes.
There was an NILSU public event this week where business leaders, coaches and members of the athletic administration all came together to talk about the future of name, image and likeness opportunities that can be capitalized on. Men's basketball coach Will Wade was just one of the several coaches in attendance and whole heartedly believes that the Tigers are on the move very quickly to establishing themselves as a force in the NIL game.
"I know LSU's moving forward, I know we got a great plan. We've got people working around the clock with it and I think it'll be very positive for our players and the student athletes at LSU," Wade told reporters ahead of the Vanderbilt game.
There's no doubt about a heightened sense of urgency of the impact NIL deals will have in regards to recruiting and in the transfer portal. Getting in early on the customized jersey partnerships is extremely important to grabbing the athletes attention. It opens up a ton of other doors for athletes including naming rights in video games, trading cards and other personalized merchandise.
Rising sophomore receiver Jack Bech is just one example of a football player starting to branch out into apparel world with his "Bech I'm From Louisiana" merchandise.
Other players like quarterback Myles Brennan have deals signed with local companies like Walk-Ons, where he just recently shot a commercial for the popular regional restaurant chain.
Seeing these kinds of ads and deals across a wide spectrum of branding opportunities is extremely important for athletes in high school and other college schools around the country to really promote what's possible business wise in Baton Rouge.
"We cannot wait to see our jerseys on the sidelines and in the stands inside Tiger Stadium next season, and we eagerly anticipate additional player co-branded products for our student-athletes across all sports,” athletic director Scott Woodward said.
NIL is here to stay and LSU is doing everything it can in recent weeks to really be at the forefront of helping its athletes capitalize on the opportunity.
"I think there's a platform here that doesn't exist in other programs in terms of the interest in this place," baseball coach Jay Johnson said. "There's an unbelievable platform to create value for yourself. You can create earning value for yourself while playing for LSU and so that's exciting. I think it's great our players have this opportunity. It's the new way and will be very impactful for us."
