Players getting paid: Heres who signed NIL deals on policys first day

A new era in college athletics began on July 1, as college athletes are now able to sign sponsorship deals based on their name, image, and likeness. Previously, the NCAA’s rules on amateurism banned them from doing so, but a June 21 Supreme Court decision found the NCAA’s restrictions on college athletes profiting off their name, image, and likeness to be illegal.

Forty-three states currently have NIL legislation that has been put into place, and the number is growing. For colleges and universities in states without NIL legislation, they can create their own policies in adherence to the NCAA’s new standards, which include; schools cannot get involved; athletes must play to participate; and they cannot promote alcohol, legal drugs, tobacco products, adult entertainment, or gambling.

On the policy’s first day, many college athletes jumped on the opportunity to profit, signing deals with different brands or beginning to market themselves.

Here are some of the biggest college athletes who have taken advantage of the NIL policy so far:

D’Eriq King

The University of Miami quarterback rolled out an expansive amount of deals on Thursday morning, including sponsorships, paid appearances and selling his own merchandise.

King will promote College Hunks Hauling Junk & Moving and Murphy Auto Group, two Tampa-based businesses. For signing, he collectively earned $10,000. With his monthly payment from College Hunks, his deal can top $20,000.

“He will drive computer awareness and ongoing social media posts promoting the brand,” College Hunks founder Omar Soliman said to reporters. “One of our challenges is recruiting employees. He’s a student athlete brand ambassador.”

College Hunks followed up a few hours later to state that they also had signed a similar deal with Canes safety Bubba Bolden.

The 23-year-old King will also be making paid appearances at The Wharf Miami, a restaurant by the Miami River.

King has bigger plans to capitalize off NIL deal, though. He created his own website to create merchandise and sell his autographs. In addition, he and FSU quarterback McKenzie Milton founded Dreamfield, a company that will schedule bookings, speaking appearances and autograph signings for college athletes. The pair hopes to recruit more athletes to participate and to expand into digital sports trading cards for college athletes.

Antwan Owens

The Jackson State defensive end is thought to be the first athlete to sign a NIL deal, as he signed an agreement with 3 Kings Grooming at midnight on Thursday. The Black-owned hair product business felt that Owens was the right fit for their brand as they were looking specifically for HBCU students.

The specifics of the sponsorship deal were not disclosed.

Hanna and Haley Cavinder

These TikTok-famous twins, both star guards for Fresno State’s women’s basketball team, signed a deal with Boost Mobile on Thursday morning.

“Today is a big step in empowering student athletes like us to take charge of our future and achieve fair recognition for the hard work we put in — both on and off the court,” Haley Cavinder wrote in a statement. “We are excited to partner with Boost in and for their support of this big milestone, not just for us, but for student athletes across the country — and for years to come.”

According to Boost, they were looking to highlight female athletes who were not top prospects. While both sisters are well-known at Fresno State, they were not top targets for the WNBA due to the small school’s lack of pedigree.

In addition, the pair signed an endorsement deal with Six Star Pro Nutrition.

The Cavinder sisters, who have 3.3 million followers on TikTok, have been top targets for brands hoping to profit from NIL deals as their social media outreach is well beyond most other college athletes.

The details of these sponsorship deals were not disclosed.

Justyn Ross

The Clemson wide receiver signed a deal with The Players Trunk, a company that helped him create his own merchandise. Ross now sells a t-shirt and a hoodie with him in his Clemson uniform on it, though the University stated on Wednesday that it’s athletes were not allowed to use its logo for NIL ventures.

Players Trunk also signed a deal with Kentucky men’s basketball guard Dontaie Allen for his own line of merchandise as well.

Matt Bockhorst

Fellow Tiger Matt Bockhorst tweeted shortly after Ross about his first sponsorship deal. The offensive lineman signed a partnership with Gopuff, a delivery service for food and drinks, but also household goods, over-the-counter medication, and other necessities.

Bockhorst’s tweet also provides a $25 promo for those who sign up, a deal thought to be the first of this kind for college athletes.

In addition to sponsorship deals, Wisconsin QB Graham Mertz and Oklahoma QB Spencer Rattler have created their own logos. Both plan on putting their logos on future merchandise.

This post first appeared on Nypost.com