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- Sports Court #66 | Beats by NIL
Sports Court #66 | Beats by NIL
The fastest 3 minutes in name, image and likeness
Tariq Ahmad
August 25, 2023
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Today’s Case
QB’s Sam Hartman, Joe Milton sign NIL deals with Beats by Dre, gift teammates headphones
Tennessee quarterback Joe Milton (Photo Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports)
Beats by Dre has been a major spender in the NIL space since its inception - and they continued this trajectory by signing quarterbacks Sam Hartman (Notre Dame) and Joe Milton (Tennessee) to NIL deals, in which each player gifted their teammates Beats by Dre headphones.
The company also launched its inaugural “Beats Elite” class, signing NIL deals with 15 college football players. The athletes will be featured across various marketing campaigns and wear custom Beats products.
As part of the agreement, Hartman and Milton, who are part of the Beats Elite group, gifted their entire respective teams Beats Studio Pro wireless headphones, which retail for $349.99.
The Verdict
Good for these two ensuring their teammates benefit from the partnership
This is great marketing for Beats by Dre because instead of only two athletes (Hartman and Milton) promoting their products, they possibly have 170+ athletes (85 scholarship athletes for each team) sharing their headphones on social media and spread the word to their respective fanbases.
Beats by Dre will continue to work with big-name athletes only
Per the Beats Elite class highlighted above, Beats wants to work with a certain caliber athlete - and don’t look for this to change for the foreseeable future (if at all).
Not every NIL deal is for every athlete - and that’s ok.
Perhaps there will be a Beats partnership with an athletic department in the future, cementing them as the official headphones provider for a college, with every student-athlete at that school getting free headphones.
Bose is also making a big push in NIL
The company recently signed Penn State quarterback Drew Allar, who gifted his Penn State offensive line headphones.
These companies not only compete in the headphones marketplace, but it now looks like they are battling it out for NIL deals as well.
Johnny Manziel would have earned BANK if NIL was around during his college days!
I broke down how much NIL money Johnny Football (theoretically) would have made. Check out this video for more!
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