Iowa Duo Partners with UScellular on NIL Deal
UScellular will continue its Name, Image and Likeness partnership with Iowa Hawkeyes student-athletes through its official sponsorship of the Timeouts 2024 program.
Hawkeye Sports Properties, the multimedia rightsholder for Iowa Athletics, announced the next stage of the partnership, which started last fall with a deal that featured football player Cade McNamara.
Now, the partnership will feature two Iowa student-athletes — women’s basketball player Gabbie Marshall and wrestler Drake Ayala.
The partnership highlights two of Iowa’s biggest athletic programs. The women’s basketball team, led by Caitlin Clark, has been in the AP Top 10 all season. Marshall has contributed more than five points per game as the Hawkeyes have lost just two games this season.
Ayala represents Iowa’s legendary wrestling program, which has won 24 national championships and nearly 40 Big Ten titles as a team. Ayala, a sophomore, is already 17-2 this season in his 125-pound weight class and has a career record of 34-10.
Timeouts 2024 is intended to spotlight the value of in-person connections over digital engagement. Some of the posts will also tout tools designed to help users learn healthy digital use habits and reduce distractions.
Both Marshall and Ayala will feature Timeouts 2024 content on their social media accounts, which encourages users to seek real connections and take time to invest in important moments.
In partnering with Marshall, UScellular’s campaigns will be seed by more than 63,000 Instagram users alone.
Marshall also sells her own signature merchandise through Iowa’s NIL store.
Ayala has nearly 22,000 followers on Instagram and recently touted a partnership with Shimkat Motor Company in Fort Dodge, Iowa.
