LSU has creatively concocted a handful of marketing monikers for itself over the past few years. DBU. WRU. NFLSU.
The newest one to take off is NILSU, hinting at the rapid rise of Name, Image and Likeness deals that are becoming more and more common and accessible to student athletes across the country.
In short, these NIL deals give college athletes “the ability to use their own name, image or likeness for personal gain in ways permitted within institutional and state legislation.”
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NIL sponsorships are only about a year old, but LSU has fully embraced the changing landscape by helping its student-athletes navigate through the entire NIL process. The university has teamed up with Altius Sports Partners to provide individual consulting, strategic planning, compliance support and education.
The benefits can already be seen, as a multitude of LSU athletes across a variety of sports have landed sponsorships in the past year. We’ve seen everything from wide receiver Jack Bech releasing his own clothing line to quarterback Myles Brennan dancing around Walk-On’s.
Here is a list of just some of the NIL deals LSU football players have landed in the past few months—and plenty more will surely follow this fall.
Sophomore wide receiver Jack Bech has taken a unique approach to capitalize on his well-known last name by releasing a line of Bech-themed merchandise. The Lafayette native is working with his hometown-based Motiér on the clothing line.
LSU’s partnership with personal injury attorney Gordon McKernan has been the headline NIL deal thus far. McKernan, who is a well-known figure around the Capital City, featured five LSU football players. Kayshon Boutte, Gregory Brooks, Miles Frazier, Malik Nabers and Kyren Lacy were spotted in a Super Bowl LVI commercial earlier this year, as well as individual social media posts highlighting each athlete.
Senior defensive end Ali Gaye has focused his NIL efforts on finding ways to give back to his home country of The Gambia, and his partnership with airSlate’s signNow is a step in that direction. The e-signature company, which was Gaye’s first NIL deal, says it gives back 1% of its profits, employee time and resourcing to charitable work.
Joubert Law Firm has teamed up with former Jena star Jaray Jenkins. Owner John T. Joubert is an LSU alum and Jena native himself, and the company admired Jenkins for his “commitment to excellence on and off the field.”
LSU and Raising Cane’s go together like fried chicken and Texas Toast. The partnership between the locally founded fast food chain and the potential starting quarterback for LSU is a match made in heaven, but it isn’t the only NIL deal Myles Brennan has struck. Along with social media posts for Walk-On’s, Smoothie King and Smalls Sliders, Brennan has teamed up with Hollingsworth-Richards Ford as well, with many more sponsorships likely coming in the future.
DEAL ROOM
More partnerships LSU football players have landed
No. 4
John Emery Jr
Bayou Cat Crew (The Player’s Lounge); Ballengee Group
No. 7
Kayshon Boutte
Gordon McKernan; Bayou Cat Crew (The Player’s Lounge); Yoke Gaming
No. 8
BJ Ojulari
Bayou Cat Crew (The Player’s Lounge)
No. 10
Jaray Jenkins
Bayou Cat Crew (The Player’s Lounge); Joubert Law Firm
No. 15
Myles Brennan
Bayou Cat Crew (The Player’s Lounge); Raising Cane’s; Walk-Ons; Smoothie King; GameCoin; Hollingsworth Richards Ford; Smalls Sliders
No. 11
Ali Gaye
signNow; airSlate; Trazer
No. 80
Jack Bech
Motier; The Athletic Collection; Smalls Sliders
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No. 99
Jaquelin Roy
Bayou Cat Crew (The Player’s Lounge)
This article was originally published in the August 2022 Tiger Pride issue of 225 magazine.