Article credit: FOX 2 DETROIT
Detroit Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams hosted JAMO Day at Tolan Park in Detroit, just a day before children went back to school.
Article credit: Donovan Campbell, Sebastian Cuervo
HOLLYWOOD, FLA. (WSVN) – A beloved college football player is using his star power to give back to some South Florida kids.
Straight out of the U, back to the community, Malachi Toney has made his impact felt in a big way.
Once upon a time, he was one of those kids, and now he’s the one they’re lining up to see.
“Once upon a time, I was them, looking up to kids my age now and the kids that was balling when I was their age, but it’s just a blessing to even be out here and let the kids feel me, see me, and touch me, so it’s just a blessing,” said Malachi.
And maybe no one feels it more than his biggest fan: his mom.
“To see the community, him give back to the community, and then come out to show love, even the adults, that’s what I’m fascinated about, not the children, the adults, the love that he get from adults,” said Shatravia Toney.
With over 300 kids, all eyes were on the hometown star, as the Miami Hurricane football sophomore standout hosted his inaugural camp at Washington Park in Hollywood and it wasn’t just a turnout, it was a sellout.
“I just know what it feels like to be at the bottom, so that’s why I’m forever humble and grateful to be where I’m at and be in this position right now, I know what it feels like to come from nothing, I came from nothing,” said Malachi.
Article credit: Dave Hyde
Toni Toney knows her family role. It’s to have all the right answers. Maybe your mom had the same job with some of the same questions.
“Mom, why can’t I stay up later?”
“Mom, can I watch this show?”
“Mom, where should I go to school?”
Toney was no different with her five children, though the questions are different with Malachi, her fourth child and second boy — “the baby boy,” as mom says of the University of Miami star receiver . “That’s what I call him. My baby.”
It’s Mother’s Day, and you can go through the South Florida sports pages to find a mom’s impact on the bigger names from any age or angle. Tennis legend Chris Evert won everything in that sport, but didn’t hesitate when asked about her biggest accomplishment: “Being a mother.”
Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo was taken by his mother, Marilyn Blount, from the rough streets of New Jersey to the backwoods of North Carolina for a better life.
“I’m nowhere without my mother,” Adebayo said.
Article credit: Roland Padilla
As NIL reshapes athlete representation, NETWORK built its edge early—targeting high school talent, guiding the transition to college, and creating a pipeline that now includes some of the top football prospects in the country.
The NIL era has created opportunity.
It’s also created confusion.
For every athlete capitalizing on their value, there are others navigating a system filled with unclear guidance, short-term deals, and, in many cases, giving up significant percentages of their earnings before they fully understand the business.
That’s the environment CEO and founder Justin J. Giangrande saw forming early.
Before launching NETWORK, Giangrande helped build and operate a sports marketing business alongside Gary and AJ Vaynerchuk, overseeing operations and brand partnerships under the VaynerMedia umbrella. That experience — sitting at the intersection of athletes, culture, and distribution — gave him a different lens on what athlete marketing could become.
Article credit: Adam Lichtenstein
HOLLYWOOD — “Do not try to rush him,” a coach told an eager group of children at Hollywood’s Washington Park on a hot Saturday afternoon.
The kids, decked out in orange, green and white shirts that bore Toney’s name and his No. 1 Malachi , were pushing toward the fence to a football field, cheering for their new icon and hoping maybe he would give them a high-five as he walked past. Miami sophomore Malachi Toney was hosting a free youth football camp, and more than 300 South Florida children signed up to attend and practice with the UM star.
“Once upon a time, I was them,” Toney said, “looking up the kids my age now and the kids that (were) balling when I was their age. But it’s just a blessing to even be out here.”
The fame is still relatively new for the young Hurricanes receiver. He was a local star during his time at American Heritage , but it has taken on a new fervor after Toney became the most electric player on the Miami team that reached the national title game for the first time since the 2002 season.
“The kids in the park always looked up to me because I was the best player in the park,” Toney said. “So it’s been normal.”
Toney’s mother, Toni Toney, said the star receiver has handled the new level of fame well.
Justin J. Giangrande, Founder and CEO of Network, discusses the evolution of college sports, and how Name, Image, and Likeness keeps changing the way schools pay their athletes (25:45).
Article credit: Douglas Scott
College sports are broken, but not for the reasons that dominate most headlines. Name, image and likeness policies did not fracture the system, even if they accelerated public awareness of its weaknesses. College sports are broken because the organization charged with governing them has chosen paralysis, deflection, and legal insulation over leadership.
The latest eligibility firestorm in college basketball, where former professional and even NBA-experienced players are suddenly eligible to compete against teenagers, is not an isolated anomaly. It is the inevitable result of years of NCAA inaction on eligibility standards, transfer rules, revenue sharing and athlete status. What is unfolding now is not reform or modernization, but an institutional collapse playing out in real time.
People operating inside the system are saying so out loud. Purdue head coach men’s basketball coach Matt Painter captured the moment when he said, “We just want to know the rules so we can abide by them. We don’t know what’s going on.”
That quote should be engraved on the NCAA’s headquarters door. It is an indictment of a governing body that has failed to provide clarity in a system worth billions of dollars.
Article credit: Douglas Scott
As the college football season ends with the Jan. 19 championship game, there’s lingering uncertainty about the future of all college sports in the wake of some recent rule changes.
Those rule changes allow college athletes to be compensated in a couple of very different ways. Unfortunately, much of the debate about the new rules is driven by a fundamental misunderstanding of what has actually changed.
At the center of the confusion is the tendency to confuse two very different concepts into one conversation: name, image and likeness (known as NIL) and pay-for-play.
NIL rights did not fully create the instability now facing college sports. Instead, the “NIL era” has exposed a system that had been operating without a modern economic framework for decades.
Article credit: Vitas Carosella
College sports finds itself at a muddy crossroads. Athletes are getting paid directly by universities. Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) has shifted player endorsements into the limelight. The transfer portal allows for free movement of labor, and private equity firms are beginning to see college sports, especially football, as a realistic investment prospect. Now more than ever, college athletes looking to become professionals need good advice on how to navigate the shifting landscape.
Founded in 2020 by University of Florida (UF) graduate Justin Giangrande, Network Advisory is seeking to guide high school athletes through college and to professional sports, building their brand and giving them financial wisdom along the way. Network defines itself as “a sports marketing agency, brand studio and entertainment production company that manages elite athletes.”
Article credit: Andrew Abadie
Florida football’s DJ Lagway has been announced as the newest Red Bull athlete in the quarterback’s latest NIL deal.
Lagway will be entering a multi-year partnership after the sophomore has inked deals with the Jordan Brand, Gatorade, Chipotle, Beats By Dre and T-Mobile.
“I’ve had the chance to work with DJ for the last four years,” Justin J. Giangrande, who is the CEO Lagway’s agency NETWORK, stated in a press release. “He’s a gifted athlete, no question, but what is even more remarkable is his maturity, dedication, and desire to lift up everyone around him. That’s why I’m excited for him to be with Red Bull. They’re giving him the kind of support and platform that reflects who he is and will allow him to take on the projects and initiatives that matter most as his career moves forward.”
Article credit: Lorenzo J. Reyna
Malachi Toney pulled off a pivotal off-the-field move ahead of the huge Florida State showdown on Oct. 4. One that ensures even more backing for the talented Miami Hurricanes freshman wide receiver.
Toney is the newest athlete to sign with NETWORK, a fast-growing sports and marketing agency in the era of Name, Image and Likeness (NIL).
Article credit: Jordan McPherson
As Malachi Toney ran into the end zone after scoring a touchdown in his collegiate debut, hauling in a 28-yard pass from Carson Beck on a crossing route in the second quarter of the Miami Hurricanes’ upset win against Notre Dame on Aug. 31, his mom soaked in the whole moment from Section 101 of Hard Rock Stadium. The tears quickly started flowing. “I was bawling in the stands,” his mom, Toni Toney, told the Miami Herald. “I was bawling because our conversation prior to it was very personal. We have personal conversations with each other leading up into each game, the morning of the game, 4 a.m., 5 a.m. We send our spiritual texts, and the message we shared with each other was very emotional, but it came to pass at that moment in that game, and I saw it. I was just like, ‘Wow.’
Article credit: Andrew Abadie
There were two movies that Justin Giangrande idolized as a child.
The first is “Rudy,” and the other was “Jerry Maguire”. The combination of those two movies laid the foundation for Giangrande’s future profession.
“I always wanted to be Jerry Maguire, the person behind the athlete,” Giangrande said. “I don’t cry about anything but emotional sports movies. That passion and underdog stuff gets me every time.”
The University of Florida graduate essentially did, in fact, grow up to be the modern day version of Jerry Maguire, as Giangrande now represents high school and college athletes as well as coaches through his company, Network.
Article credit: Chris Hummer
AUSTIN, Texas — A few days before UTEP made the trip to play No. 7 Texas, Eric Nelson stated the obvious: “Ray Charles can see that we’re underdogs.”
Nelson, the father of Miners QB Malachi Nelson, knew the circumstances would be difficult for what was essentially his son’s debut on a national stage after a winding path that’s taken him from five-star recruit and future of the USC program to Boise and El Paso over a three-year span.
At Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium there were more than 100,000 fans in attendance to watch Texas do what seemed inevitable as a 40.5-point favorite. There was even a sign in the stands that read: “This isn’t the Miners league.”
Instead, UTEP’s defense confounded Texas. At one point Arch Manning — Nelson’s peer as a five-star recruit in the 2023 class — threw 10 straight incompletions. Boos rained down from the stands as college football’s most hyped player looked lost.
Article credit: Sam Khan Jr.
For a five-week stretch this summer, Malachi Nelson spent his mornings sweating on a high school field, recapturing something he lost the last two years.
Article credit: Matt Baker
Judging by the number of phone calls his family received, DJ Lagway could have transferred to any of the high school football powers in talent-rich Houston instead of sticking with Willis, an also-ran that hadn’t won a district title in more than two decades.
Lagway never considered it. He wanted the hard road.
“Listen,” said his mom, Niki, “my son loves an underdog story.”
Like transforming Willis from a 2-8 team his freshman year into district champions as a senior. Or the even bigger one now facing him and the Florida Gators.
Last week’s 18-16 home loss to USF reheated the seat of head coach Billy Napier two games into his fourth season and renewed questions about the direction of a program 17 years removed from its last SEC championship. To make matters worse, the Gators’ schedule is one of the toughest in the nation; Saturday night’s trip to No. 3 LSU is one of eight remaining games against teams ranked in the top 20 of the latest AP poll.
It’s unclear how or if the Gators can recover quickly enough to salvage their preseason College Football Playoff hopes and avoid another spin on the coaching carousel. But any path to success rests on the broad shoulders of the 6-foot-3, 247-pound quarterback charged with finding a way to save Napier and Florida football.
Article credit: Charles Baggarly
What do DeSoto wide receiver Ethan “Boobie” Feaster, five-star quarterback Malachi Nelson and Florida Gators starting quarterback DJ Lagway have in common?
All three have teamed up with NETWORK, a sports marketing and management agency. Their decisions mark a new era in athletics in which elite high school players are represented long before they ever sign a professional contract.
In Texas, state laws permit athletes 17 and older to sign NIL deals, though name, image and likeness compensation can’t begin until they’ve enrolled in college.
With rules changing rapidly across the country, representation helps players prepare for opportunities and challenges that may come without warning.
That’s the strategy behind Feaster’s move. The four-star USC pledge’s brand is being built by NETWORK, so he can be in a good position when he turns 17, just a few weeks ahead of graduation.
Article credit: Pete Nakos
Colorado quarterback Julian Lewis is adding to his NIL portfolio ahead of his freshman season. The former top-60 recruit in the country has inked an endorsement deal with the energy drink Gym Weed.
As part of the agreement, Lewis becomes an athlete equity partner with the brand. The multi-year deal includes Lewis starring in social media campaigns for the energy drink. Full financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Lewis’ representation at Network negotiated the deal.
“After I tried Gym Weed and had a chance to meet the team, it just made sense,” Lewis said in a statement. “It’s more than an energy drink. As a student-athlete, I feel like the need to focus all day long is my reality, and that’s what made it a perfect fit for me. In NIL, the biggest thing I’ve learned is you’ve got to work with brands you actually believe in. You can’t just grab every offer — your name’s on it, and you’re building with them for the long run.”
Lewis is also signing a marketing deal with Taco Bell, with the campaign set to launch this weekend. The quarterback will have his collectible player cup as part of the “Buffs Box,” a new NIL campaign launching at Taco Bell locations throughout Colorado.
Article credit: Javon Edmonds
Syracuse, N.Y. — When wide receiver Calvin Russell III became Syracuse’s first five-star commitment in more than two decades, all he could say was, “Fran Brown, man. Fran Brown.”
Russell’s commitment showcased Brown’s reputation as a recruiter as Syracuse replaced Miami, Russell’s hometown school, in his final four at the last minute.
Article credit: Bill Heyen
Late Saturday night marked an absolutely momentous occasion for the Syracuse Orange football program.
Calvin Russell III, a 5-star wide receiver from Miami, had four schools on his finalists list as a Class of 2026 recruit: Michigan, Florida State, Oregon and SU.
Russell chose the Orange.
He’s the highest-ranked recruit landed by Syracuse in the last two decades.
SU head coach Fran Brown, entering his second season on the sideline, has officially proven that the Orange could be a force going forward as long as he’s leading the way.
Russell is an incredible talent, a 6-foot-5 monster on the perimeter who would’ve fit in any program in the country, and he decided to bring that talent to Syracuse.
“It’s about trusting the process and finding the right people to grow on and off the field with,” Russell said in a press release. “I’m thankful for everyone who’s been part of this journey, and I’m ready to work and give everything I got to Syracuse. This is the next step toward what I’ve been working for my entire life.”
Episode 23 of the Sports Business Leaders Podcast features Justin J. Giangrande — CEO and Founder of Network Advisory — for a powerful conversation on the evolution of athlete representation, sports marketing, and NIL strategy.
With over 20 years of experience working with more than 100 professional athletes, including Mike Conley Jr., JuJu Smith-Schuster, and Alvin Kamara, Giangrande shares how his journey shaped the vision behind Network Advisory. Network Advisory is an innovative firm blending athlete management, brand building, and content creation. He also reflects on his time as EVP and Partner at VaynerSports, working alongside AJ and Gary Vaynerchuk.
Topics include:
This episode is a must-listen for anyone looking to understand the next wave of growth in sports business and NIL.
Article credit: Maddy Hudak
There’s no guarantee that the House settlement is even approved, nor that it will change the fundamental issues with NIL and college sports.
The House v. NCAA settlement has placed the world of college sports in an impractical waiting period.
The proposed date pending approval is July 1—the same day that marks the start of the 2025-26 athletic fiscal calendar.
But there’s not a clear direction for what the enforcement entity will be or look like.
Yet, many in the college football world expected that decision to come last week. There’s frankly no guarantee Judge Claudia Wilken will approve the terms as they stand with her noted problems involving roster limits.
Article by Ashley Wenskoski
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Syracuse football head coach Fran Brown has signed with sports marketing and management agency NETWORK, the company announced on Monday.
NETWORK aims to “build his brand and expand his influence both on and off the field,” via a press release.
Brown is believed to be the first NCAA head coach to sign with a management agency. He is NETWORK’s first coaching client.
“I’m thrilled to work with NETWORK and take the next step in building my personal brand, exploring new partnership opportunities and business ventures,” said Brown in the release. “This relationship will allow me to share my approach to coaching and leadership more broadly, while also connecting with companies and organizations that share my values.”
Doug Scott, Chief Strategy Officer at NETWORK, says that Brown was a desirable candidate to NETWORK because of his unique approachability in comparison to the rest of the coaching landscape.
“It’s his dynamic personality,” said Scott. “He’s down to earth, he cares, he rolls up his sleeves. There are a lot of coaches out there that are unapproachable; because they’re head coaches.” To see a young coach like Fran, really in the wild west of college football, be that accessible and have the personality and philosophy that he has, he became attractive.”
I had the chance to speak with NETWORK on the signing of Fran Brown 🍊🏈
Brown becomes the first NCAA coach signed to a management agency. Scott says the partnership was facilitated through David Falk and it’s Brown’s approachability that separates him (full interview below) https://t.co/3D7izhpoDn pic.twitter.com/P63GGOOCWS
— Ashley Wenskoski (@AshleyWenskTV) May 7, 2025
🚨🚨NEW EPISODE OUT NOW🚨🚨
We sit down with Doug Scott, Chief Strategy Officer at NETWORK, to discuss the signing of SU football head coach Fran Brown. Brown becomes the FIRST NCAA coach to sign with a management agency 🍊🏈
WATCH: https://t.co/SFzDUfyPd0 pic.twitter.com/X2QMyQvSL6
— The Orange Zone (@TheOZpod) May 7, 2025
The partnership was facilitated by David B. Falk, an NBA agent and graduate of Syracuse University. Falk’s name is a permanent fixture at SU on the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics.
Scott says that NETWORK met with Brown about a potential partnership as early as June of 2024.
“David was very excited about Coach Brown coming up to Syracuse,” said Scott. “After meeting Coach Brown, he said “we need to build his brand, we need to build his presence off of the field”…he reached out and asked me if I would go up and meet Coach Brown with him. We went up there, if I’m not mistaken, last June. Immediately, I could feel the energy and the passion.”
“Fran was on a mission,” said Scott. “He knew exactly what he needed to achieve, and he went out there and he did it. We could not be more excited to be working with him to build that off-field presence for him.”
NETWORK will work with Brown to explore media and merchandising opportunities with organizations that fit his values.
“It’s making sure that we’re true to his authenticity and who he is,” said Scott. “Fran knows who he is. He’s true to himself. He doesn’t try and be somebody that he’s not, and he’s very comfortable in where he is in life. He aspires to achieve more, and he’s a winner; and he’s going to do everything that he can to win, in the way that Fran knows.”
Scott believes it’s the authenticity that is driving renewed interest in Syracuse football from a national recruiting standpoint. The Orange currently have the eighth-best 2026 recruiting class nationally according to ESPN, and have reeled in high-profile players in the transfer portal like quarterback Kyle McCord.
“That’s what’s really attracting a lot of young athletes that have Syracuse in their consideration,” said Scott.
Scott mentioned Alabama’s Nick Saban and North Carolina’s Bill Belichick as examples of coaches who have built personal brands that have “halo effects” on the schools that they work for.
“I think that what you really have here is a coach that recognizes the importance of his presence both on and off the field,” said Scott. “And my view is that Syracuse is going to be the benefactor of him… undertaking the process to define who he is, and dare I say, commercialize that as he goes forward. For both his interest, and the interest of the school.”
He believes that Brown is at the forefront of a trend that will catch on among college head coaches.
“I do think you’re going to see more head coaches follow suit and better understand their marketing strategy,” he said. “Even when they do press conferences, there’s marketing happening in that press conference relative to the visibility that they’re getting, from College GameDay and SportsCenter, and other media outlets.”
Article credit: Javon Edmonds
The legendary NBA agent said he believes Syracuse football coach Fran Brown has some of the same star qualities as the icons he represented during his career, part of the reason he encouraged Brown to seek help marketing himself nationally this offseason.
“I think he really cares about the players. I think he’s really honest — brutally honest,” Falk told syracuse.com | The Post-Standard.
“I told him, ‘You remind me, in some ways, of a young John Thompson.’ He’s very open about his feelings. I think he’s straight and direct with players, and I think they really respect him for that.”
Falk, a Syracuse University graduate whose $15 million donation led to the naming of SU’s Falk College, helped brand Michael Jordan as “Air Jordan.” He helped Krzyzewski build a reputation at Duke as a teacher and the ultimate leader of men. He burnished Thompson’s reputation as a fighter for his Georgetown players, fairness and racial equality.
When Falk met Brown through a mutual friend from New Jersey, he came away thinking the SU football coach was capable of building the same type of long-lasting image for himself.
“He’s really smart, charismatic, young and very ambitious,” Falk said. “He’s breathed new life into the Syracuse football program.”
Article by Amanda Christovich | Front Office Sports
The news comes at a time when social media gives coaches a unique platform to capitalize on their own identity.
Since the NIL (name, image, and likeness) era began, college athletes nationwide have invested heavily in agents and marketers to help build their personal brands. They aren’t the only ones.
Syracuse football head coach Fran Brown has become the first NCAA coach to sign with NIL agency Network, Front Office Sports has learned. The news comes at a time when social media gives coaches a unique platform to capitalize on their own identity—and when they need every advantage possible to attract recruits in the era of unrestricted free agency, including beefing up their off-field personas. And there’s no doubt PR matters. Coaches without savvy brand-building and PR assistance—UNC’s Bill Belichick is one whopping example—are floundering in the public eye in a way that could negatively impact their ability to entice top players.
“I figure there’s no better time to do it than right now,” Brown tells FOS.
Network primarily works with high school and college athletes, including Florida quarterback DJ Lagway, but has decided to foray into the world of college coaching. “When we started Network, we weren’t pretending to, nor considering to get into the coaching world,” Chief Strategy Officer Doug Scott tells FOS. He says the suggestion came from renowned agent David Falk. “It really was the energy and essence of who Fran was, to where we decided that, yes, this is somebody that we really want to see be successful. And we think there’s a little bit of a void in the marketplace right now.”
Article by: Jael Rucker
Colorado commit Julian “Ju-Ju” Lewis may be a standout football player, but he’s also an entrepreneur.
On Friday, the Colorado Buffs commit dropped the first release of his Julian Lewis-branded apparel collection through a collaboration with the St Julien Hotel & Spa in Boulder. St Julien hosted a spring game pop-up (with another planned for April 19) to go along with University of Colorado’s spring football game, where fans got to check out Lewis’ new collection first-hand. The capsule includes a range of t-shirts, hoodies and crewneck sweatshirts, alongside a track jacket, and even tumblers. In addition to purchasing JL items, every sale entered folks to win a signed Julian Lewis helmet or a one-night stay at St Julien.
Article by: Logan Newman
Four-star California high school quarterback Brady Smigiel is taking an untraditional approach with his new name, image and likeness (NIL) deal: The money goes straight into an investment account.
Smigiel and Four Arm Fund announced the deal on March 18 in a press release stating that the firm will place the money directly into an investment account, which it will manage through a combination of investments, including stocks, ETFs, cryptocurrency, and commodities.
The company confirmed this is a five-figure NIL deal through its public relations partner.
“Our relationship with Brady Smigiel exemplifies the Four Arm Fund mission, bringing innovative models and financial management structures to elite-student athletes interested in planning their future,” Kevin Logan, Managing Partner at Four Arm Fund, said in a statement. “We are excited to work with Brady on investment and business opportunities that extend beyond the game.”
The company stated there will be a minimum age of 21 before he can withdraw funds. Smigiel turned 18 in October, according to the Ventura County Star.
“For me, it’s always been about the game. My focus is on becoming the best — that’s the main goal. The money will come with it; if I can set myself up for success later in life, I’m all in,” Smigiel said in a statement.
Article by: Alyssa Meyers
Brand execs are finding no shortage of on- and off-court talent for campaigns, and “we’d love to sign everybody,” one exec said.
Four years ago, the women’s NCAA tournament wasn’t even technically called March Madness. Fast-forward to last year, and the women’s championship game had more viewers than the men’s for the first time, as players like Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Kamilla Cardoso, and Cameron Brink became household names over the course of the tournament.
Then, as college seniors tend to do, they graduated.
Even though this year’s rosters look a little different than last year’s, brand interest—and ad prices—seem as high as ever. Players like Paige Bueckers, Flau’jae Johnson, and JuJu Watkins remain in high demand in ad campaigns, and marketers are also betting on other athletes representing the next generation of talent.
“It’s about freaking time,” Jeff Kearney, global head of sports marketing at Gatorade, told Marketing Brew. “What is coming through, especially with women’s basketball, is the personalities, the human elements…People don’t talk about Celtics/Lakers, they talk about Bird/Magic, so adding those names and those personalities is just really incredible and invaluable to making people care and pay attention.”
After last year’s record ratings, Disney sold out of ad inventory for this year’s women’s championship game on ESPN by the end of 2024, and as of mid-March, prices for remaining inventory were about double what they were last year, according to Elliot Rifkin, group lead, services at TV ad platform Tatari.
Spreading media buys across both properties has become common practice, and Ryan Briganti, EVP and head of sports sales for Paramount Advertising, said interest in the women’s tournament has helped bolster sales for the men’s game.
“It’s definitely something that is helping the overall marketplace, and there’s no doubt about brands leaning in on both,” Briganti told reporters during a press conference earlier this month.
While companies like Gatorade, Mondelez, and Intuit are incorporating both men and women athletes in March Madness campaigns this year, other brands are leaning fully on women players, some of whom have multi-year NIL deals, for their campaigns.
Johnson, who plays for the LSU Tigers, has been a mainstay during the tournament’s ad breaks, appearing in commercials for brands like Powerade, Experian, and Oreo. Bueckers, who plays for the UConn Huskies, is in ads for Gatorade, Intuit, and Nike. Watkins, who’s out of the tournament for USC with an ACL tear, stars alongside Bueckers in the Gatorade spot and is in campaigns for Mondelez and State Farm.
Watkins is “obviously someone that the consumers connect with,” Tanya Berman, SVP of biscuits at Mondelez, said, while Johnson has “stardom written all over her for the future,” according to Kevin Everhart, chief growth officer for consumer services at Experian. Bueckers, meanwhile, is “one of the most influential college athletes in basketball” who has “been at the forefront of the NIL movement since Day 1,” Danielle Roark, marketing director for Intuit, said.
Berman acknowledged that even a few years ago, it could be hard for brands to find women athletes with such reach, but that doesn’t seem to be a barrier these days.
“They have such a presence, and they all have unique personalities, and they’re really visible,” she said.
It’s not only the biggest stars in women’s hoops who are attracting brand deals. Gatorade’s Kearney rattled others off with ease: “LSU is stacked, South Carolina, Lauren Betts and Kiki Rice at UCLA, Madison Booker at Texas, Hannah Hidalgo at Notre Dame,” he said. “You can go down the list, and we’d love to sign everybody.”
Gatorade can’t, of course, but other brands are inking deals. Intuit TurboTax, for instance, has partnered with Rice for two years, and in that time, she’s increased her follower base on Instagram by 25,000, Roark said. “With UCLA earning a No. 1 seed this year, we expect her brand to reach even bigger heights,” she said. Rice and Betts are also front and center in an AT&T March Madness ad.
March Madness has long been known for its Cinderella stories—or bracket breakers, depending on who you ask—and because any team might have a stand-out moment, brands have lots of options. C4 recently signed 128 college basketball players, including Booker and Betts, as part of a program called the C4 Bracket Breakers, the energy-drink brand’s first major push into the tournament, according to Craig Lyon, SVP of brand marketing at C4 parent company Nutrabolt. The move is meant to differentiate C4 and create an association with top athletes while also building relationships with potential future stars, he said.
“You see these kids come out of nowhere and suddenly become household names, whether it be for a few months or a few years, or it jump-starts your career,” Lyon said. “We’re looking at this as an opportunity to get some introduction and some real interaction with athletes who could very much be the next generation of mainstays.”
For its first March Madness campaign, mental health platform BetterHelp sought out women athletes who have been “vocal and vulnerable about their mental health,” Head of Marketing Sara Brooks said. The brand tapped Rice, Zoe Brooks of NC State, and Chance Grey of Ohio State for a campaign called “Stop the Madness” meant to raise awareness of mental health struggles among athletes.
That qualifier narrowed down the pool of potential athlete partners, and “I don’t think that we could have made the determination purely based on schools” anyway, Brooks said, since it’s near impossible to predict who will go the distance.
Gym Weed, an “athletic focus drink,” inked its first official NIL partnership with Harvard’s Harmoni Turner right before the university received its No. 10 seed and Turner was named The Associated Press women’s college basketball player of the week, President Shane McCassy said.
Harvard fell to Michigan State in the first round, but McCassy said he’s still excited to be partnered with Turner, who has 98,000 followers on TikTok and 63,000 on Instagram. Turner’s deal with Gym Weed includes three TikToks, three Instagram Stories, a collab post, and a giveaway over the course of three months as Turner turns her sights to the WNBA draft, according to Michaela Simon, VP of content and operations at The Network Advisory, which reps Turner for brand deals.
“She already has an audience that just loves her for her, so that’s the dream for a brand, to have a genuine audience following you already,” Simon said. “It’s only up from here.”
Correction 03/28/2025: This article has been updated to show the name of C4’s campaign as Bracket Breakers.
Hi Justin J., so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I had always wanted to attend a big football or basketball school, so when it came time for college, I chose the University of Florida. I was there during the glory days–graduated in 2006–and I’ll never forget meeting Tim Tebow as a freshman. Right away, it was clear to me that he was going to be something special. During my time at UF, I built a few businesses and had the incredible experience of witnessing back-to-back national championships: basketball, then football, then basketball again. I stayed in Florida until 2008 where I continued to grow my businesses while working on different projects with Tim, including his charity event; when he won the Heisman, I was also lucky enough to be part of it. It was an unforgettable time for University of Florida sports, as you can imagine, and a phenomenal time to be there.
After that, I moved out to Los Angeles and landed an internship at Priority Sports, which eventually turned into a role in which I helped them sign Chandler Parsons. This was around 2010, and that’s when I started noticing the shift towards marketing and branding in the sports world. LeBron and Johnny Manziel were beginning to separate their marketing from their agents, and I just had a feeling that was the future of the industry.
These experiences and insight led me to start my own firm called NCLUSIVE, which was essentially what we now know as modern athlete brand-building. We focused on marketing, endorsement deals, public relations, social media, and websites for athletes. Over time, NCLUSIVE grew to represent 30 NFL and NBA players, including three first-round picks in 2015. At one point, we had the highest-paid NBA player at the time, Mike Conley Jr. Amid the growth, Gary and AJ Vaynerchuk approached me about merging my business with VaynerSports and becoming a partner. Their entrepreneurial approach and media business accomplishments really intrigued me, so I made the move.
Article credit: By Justin Giangrande
In today’s era of college football, head coaches have evolved far beyond their traditional roles of calling plays and drawing up Xs and Os. Instead, coaches have effectively become the new “CEOs” of multimillion-dollar operations. Head coaches are responsible for overseeing hundreds of staff members, managing significant financial resources and navigating the complexities of player development, recruitment and retention — all in the high-stakes world of the name, image and likeness era. The modern college football landscape demands it, and the results have been transformational across all programs and conferences.
College football programs are massive revenue-generating powerhouses, often serving as the financial backbone of entire athletic departments. The pressure to win, and to do so consistently, is substantially intensified in an era where even one poor performance can determine the fate of an entire program. This reality increases the need for a highly specialized staff. From analyzing opponents’ film to developing individualized training plans for each athlete, the modern football program operates with the sophistication of a corporate enterprise. The head coach, then, is now also responsible for leading each of the different departments in pursuit of a common goal. Additionally, with student athletes now able to monetize their personal brands and maximize NIL opportunities, managing a roster has become as much about financial decisions as it is about football strategy. Coaches must navigate a landscape where players’ earning potentials are correlated with their performance on the field and image off the field. Retaining top talent often means facilitating opportunities that align with both individual and team goals. In this sense, a coach’s role extends to promote mentorship as well as business management, ensuring players understand the long-term implications of their decisions while fostering a team culture that prioritizes group success over the individual.
Article credit: Jack Meyer
Florida star quarterback DJ Lagway has received widespread praise and accolades for his work on the field during the past six months. On Tuesday, Lagway announced a major step in developing his brand away from the turf.
As revealed in a Tuesday release, the 19-year-old has partnered with UF Health to launch the DJ Lagway Foundation. The foundation’s main goals will reflect Lagway’s desire to use name, image and likeness licensing for good.”
Some of the foundation’s primary initiatives will include organizing food drives, youth football camps and mentorships for underserved children in the greater Gainesville area.
Alex Kirshner, Richard Johnson, and Split Zone Duo subscribers have some questions for an NIL agent about how the business of paying college football players actually works. Justin J. Giangrande is the CEO and founder of NETWORK, a sports marketing agency that handles both collective negotiations and sponsorship agreements for players like. We wanted to know:
