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Today’s Case

UScellular continues support for student-athletes with 23 NIL deals

For the 2023-2024 college athletic season, UScellular is partnering with 23 student-athletes at eight universities across ten sports on NIL deals. This builds upon the company's NIL agreements in 2022-2023 where it supported eight students at two universities.

The NIL relationship with these student-athletes draws attention to the company's Built for US brand campaign using the theme, Official Sponsor of Timeouts. The program includes student athletes' sharing videos and still photos on their social media channels. The content calls attention to healthier digital habits, including themes of taking a timeout for people and passions that are most important to them. In addition, in-person appearances from each athlete will take place throughout the UScellular footprint.

UScellular vice president of brand management Verchele Roberts: "NIL partnerships provide UScellular a unique opportunity to create a program that aligns to its values and gives a platform for student-athletes to tell their individual stories. While using technology can help us feel connected when watching a game, it shouldn't be a distraction that keeps us from enjoying the experience. As the Official Sponsor of Timeouts, we're encouraging everyone to focus on the game and life experiences with the people who matter most."

The Verdict

• Liking the regional play of the partnership

  • UScellular leveraging athletes in their wireless network footprint is a smart move, as it allows athletes in those areas to benefit from NIL collaborations and give it more of a “hometown” partnership feel.

    • Regional deals can have substantial impact, as this is similar to McDonald’s working with over 40 HBCU athletes in the southeast US on their MyRewards NIL deal earlier this year.

• Practical NIL deal

  • To be honest, some NIL partnerships are not practical, as they lean towards athletes receiving products they don’t generally like or use.

    • However, all college student-athletes use mobile phones, so not only is this a natural partnership, but this is the type of deal that could evolve into a long-term partnership after these athletes’ college playing days are done. (Career/Internship opportunities, mentorship, etc.)

• Increased content output

  • Because of the partnership with UScellular, hoping the athletes will increase the amount of content they produce, as they most likely don’t have to worry about overages, roaming charges, etc.

    • Content such as Day in the Life and Get Ready With Me presented by UScellular is any easy way to tie-in the partnership with a standard Instagram Reel or Tiktok video without feeling like too much of a typical sponsored post.

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