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Today’s Case

Meet this year’s Men’s Final Four NIL star

Every year, there is one player that emerges as a star leading up to the Final Four.

In relation to NIL, that player this year is North Carolina State’s DJ Burns.

Along with being a fan favorite among Wolfpack supporters and the local Raleigh community, Burns has developed a slew of NIL deals in the past few weeks, which includes:

• 76

• CVS

• adidas

• TurboTax

• Manscaped

• Raising Cane’s

Additionally, before the NCAA tournament, he had 23,000 Instagram followers. That number has grown to 188,000 followers (and counting).

The Verdict

• Building his portfolio

  • Great to see Burns capitalizing on his brand in his final hurrah as a college athlete - especially with national brands.

    • Although terms were not disclosed, I estimate the TurboTax and Manscaped deals to be in the $5-10K range each.

    • It’s also nice to see Burns partner with several teammates for the CVS partnership.

• What deal is next?

  • Depending on the outcome of this weekend’s games, I wouldn’t be surprised if Burns scores another 1-2 major NIL deals.

  • Would love to see some large North Carolina-based companies tap into a collaboration. (Bank of America, Lowe’s, etc.)

• Carry over to the next level?

  • While Burns is not projected to be an NBA draft pick (although he’s gaining traction with NFL teams), the companies he’s partnering with can turn into long-term opportunities for him.

    • Perhaps playing in the G-League can help him keep some of these partnerships. In turn, he might lose most of these deals playing internationally where said companies do not have a presence.

Sprouts signs eight athletes to NIL deals for Women’s History Month

The grocery store chain continues to invest in women’s. Check out this video for more!

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^{I discuss insights and news related to name, image and likeness in 3 minutes or less every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 12p ET/9a PT.}

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