The name, image, and likeness train is here and you might as well jump on board because I don’t see it going anywhere any time soon, honestly I think it will only continue to grow in the years to come. Ever since the NCAA adopted the idea of players cashing in on their name, image, and likeness this past July several Kentucky Wildcats have cashed in on some sweet deals.
The most recent NIL deal was signed by Freshman guard, Ty Ty Washington. Washington just inked a deal with Blue Grass Motorsport Porsche of Louisville, and was seen on his social media driving a brand new Porsche Cayenne SUV which can easily sell for over $80,000.
Switching from the hardwood to the turf, there are also numerous UK Football players that are seeing money signs due to name, image, and likeness rule.
Wan’dale Robinson, one of the SEC’s top wide receivers, signed a huge deal with Stockton Mortgage, a local independent mortgage bank right here in Kentucky. Robinson’s deal with Stockton Mortgage is worth a cool $150,000 and is the largest deal for a Kentucky Wildcat thus far.
There are still plenty of NIL deals to go around, four of them to be exact. Darian Kinnard, Marquan McCall, Josh Paschal, and Justin Rogers all signed a deal with the law firm Morgan & Morgan. Between these four big dudes you could say that this was probably a “hefty deal” and the billboard is pretty funny if you think about it.
Although I know I’m probably leaving out several, these are just a handful of the huge NIL deals that the Wildcats have managed to sign since July. It needs to be noted though, that several collegiate athletes are still banking off of their names in other ways that include but are not limited to: clothing brands (Kentucky branded being one), doing autograph signings (before they had to wait until they were out of college), and even doing personalized cameo video messages to fans which can range anywhere from $20 to $100 depending on the athlete.
Like I said from the beginning, whether or not you like seeing collegiate players make some extra money off of their names, it’s probably here to stay and we‘re only three months into this and I promise you’ll see more and more deals being made in the coming days. Why Chiquita (bananas), Levi Strauss, or hell even Hellman’s mayonnaise hasn’t went after Kentucky quarterback Will Levis yet is beyond me but I’m sure it won’t be long until we see something for the football star.