LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels has signed his latest NIL partnership. The deal is with The Athletic Collection, which is selling an 18×24 inch poster of Daniels with an “augmented reality feature.” The feature allows fans who purchase the poster to unlock highlights of Daniels. The poster is selling for $25.
🚨We are happy to announce our newest partnership with LSU QB @JayD__5 to sell officially licensed Augmented Reality SPORTS POSTERS! Don't forget, download our FREE app to bring your poster to life!
Buy your poster HERE: https://t.co/Vh15j1ZXLF
APP:https://t.co/qCnJdXnQKH#LSU pic.twitter.com/I0muMez6gJ
— The Athletic Collection-LSU (@lsutac) September 12, 2022
Daniels was the quarterback at Arizona State University before transferring to LSU, and while in Arizona he signed a few NIL deals.
Venezia’s New York Style Pizzeria signed Daniels to a brand ambassador deal for the 2021 season, including his own signature pizza, the JD5. Daniels earned a portion of the sales of his specialty pizza.
“Jayden will serve as a brand ambassador for Venezia’s Pizzeria on his social media during the 2021 football season. Jayden will also have his own specialty pizza on the menu at all five of the restaurant’s locations in Phoenix, Tempe, Gilbert and Mesa,” said Venezia’s president Domenick Montanile.
Daniels also signed dels with Fry’s Food Stores and Jones Auto Centers in Arizona. The latter deal afforded him the opportunity to drive a 2020 Ford Mustang GT Premium, which retails for $51,000.
“I thought to myself: ‘Here’s a guy who’s going to be leading the program to hopefully a 10-win season. He already has (43,300) followers on Instagram, and if the Devils get out to a 7-0, 8-0 start, it’s likely going to mean Jayden’s in Heisman conversations,” general manager Parker Jones said. “So the exposure part of it seemed exciting for us.”
The folks at The Athletic Collection, where Daniels signed his first deal as a member of the LSU Tigers, likely have the same idea.
His partnership with The Athletic Collection puts him alongside other LSU athletes, including men’s basketball player Adam Miller and women’s hoops player Flau’Jae Johnson.
NIL was the next logical evolution in college sports. Though it took forever to arrive at this point.
The collegiate sports model, specifically at the Power Five conference (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, and SEC) schools in the revenue-generating sports (football and basketball), are de facto pro sports programs. The revenue generated and manner in which the games are consumed, packaged and sold say as much. With the one exception being the attachment to an institution of higher learning presenting the guise of amateurism.
That veil has been ripped aside, and now the athletes are doing what is in their best interest. Like any other laborer in a capitalist economy, they are selling their labor to the bidders.
This is especially critical in a sport like football with an extremely high injury rate. Who knows if Daniels is bound for a big NFL payday. In the event that he’s not, why not earn some money and give himself a chance for success post-college in whatever avenue he chooses?
LSU is 1-1 and unranked in the early college football season. Daniels has played well, but the team’s opening-weekend loss to Florida State knocked them out of the top 25. The Tigers host Mississippi State next weekend.
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