Cooper Flagg's NIL earnings are misunderstood

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Cooper Flagg's NIL earnings are misunderstood

Why it’s important to look beyond the headline

Cooper Flagg Gatorade commercial (Photo Credit: SI.com)

In a recent sit-down with Bob Costas, longtime sports journalist Howard Bryant revealed that former Duke basketball freshman phenom (and presumed #1 overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft) Cooper Flagg cleared over $28 million in NIL deals while at Duke his freshman year.

The figure, which far surpasses On3’s original $4.8 million evaluation of Flagg’s earnings, solicited gasps from a live audience.

Yes, this is an eye-popping number.

No, this number is not accurate in surface-level context.

Where to read between the lines

  • Multi-year deal

    • What’s important to note that these NIL deals (and numbers) are partnerships over several years, with New Balance’s total deal coming in at $13M, and a Fanatics partnership of $15M.

    • With that being said, total value is the key metric here.

  • Still made a small fortune in his short time at Duke

    • Although Flagg didn’t technically earn $28M in NIL dollars in one season at Duke, he still made extremely good money. (Assuming each year is equal means he realistically earned ~$5.6M this past year, with the assumption that each partnership is a five-year deal.

  • Additional partnerships

    • While they don’t factor into the above deals, Flagg also signed NIL deals with Gatorade, AT&T, and Cort Furniture while at Duke.

    • He also announced his commitment to Duke in a unique NIL deal with SLAM Magazine.

    • While most of these partnerships were presumably one-off deals, Flagg still secured collabs with notable brands that could carry over with him to the NBA. (Gatorade being the most likely.)

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