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Cooper Flagg's NIL earnings are misunderstood
The fastest 3 minutes in name, image and likeness
Tariq Ahmad
June 04, 2025
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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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