Gatorade recently inked a deal with college football phenom Shedeur Sanders, starting quarterback of Jackson State University in Mississippi. This is their first signing of an athlete from a historically black college and university (HBCU) and allows the sports drink brand to use his name, image, and likeness (NIL) in their advertising.
Shedeur Sanders has captivated the world of college football with his sensational play, leading Jackson State to an 11-2 record and a divisional championship. He finished the 2021 season with a pass completion rate of 68.7% on 3,231 passing yards and 30 touchdown passes. He is the first HBCU athlete to win the Stats Perform Jerry Rice Award, given to the most outstanding freshman in NCAA Division I Football.
According to On3 Sports’ NIL valuation database, Sanders is valued at almost $600,000. He is one of many college athletes to stake a claim in the NIL game with over 450,000 followers on Instagram, 175,000 followers on TikTok, and 25,000 followers on Twitter. The exact figures in the multi-year partnership with Gatorade were not made public. He has previously signed NIL deals with other brands, such as Beats by Dre and Tom Brady’s new sports apparel company “The Brady Brand”.
“It feels amazing to sign with Gatorade, a brand known for working with legendary athletes. To be the first HBCU athlete to sign with them, I feel very honored and humbled by that,” said Sanders in an interview with Forbes. In addition, he wishes to bring more opportunities to other HBCU athletes and to attract more national attention to HBCUs overall. He is the first student-athlete to join the elite line-up of influential athletes in Gatorade’s roster which includes Dwyane Wade, JJ Watt, Serena Williams, Candace Parker, Zion Williamson, and Bryce Harper among many others.
The Jackson State Tigers football program, coached by his father Deion Sanders, had their first 11-win season in program history. The father-son duo led the school to the 2021 SWAC Championship – their first in eight years. The SWAC also acknowledged his legendary first college season by naming him “Freshman of the Year” among many other accolades. Shedeur’s football coach and father Deion Sanders is an NFL Legend and is regarded as the greatest cornerback of all time. Interestingly, he is also a rare multi-sport professional athlete who has played in both the Super Bowl and the MLB World Series.
Which college athletes are making NIL money?
Some athletes have started to cash in on the chance to earn money since the historic NIL policy change in July 2021. According to data released by Opendorse, 46% of NIL money is earned through social media promotion and 29% from players’ likeness in advertising. Numbers also show that across all sports, 33.8% of all NIL deals come from football players and 8.6% from men’s basketball. Opendorse is a sports technology company that connects athletes with potential endorsements and NIL deals.
