🏅LSU's $18 million football roster and the wild, wealthy world of high school NIL

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Thank you for spending your day with NIL Wire. In today’s newsletter, we get into the latest news and updates from around the NIL world. A lot has happened in the past couple of days: Adidas signed Nebraska star Harper Murray, Michigan’s NIL collective is launching a new “athlete-driven media network,” and LSU coach Brian Kelly revealed how much the Tigers spent on their football roster. (Hint: it’s a lot.)

Let’s get into it.

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THE BIG 3

Nebraska volleyball star signs with Adidas

Nebraska junior outside hitter Harper Murray is the latest Husker athlete to sign an NIL with Adidas. Murray now joins quarterback Dylan Raiola on the brand’s roster.

Adidas is the official sponsor of Nebraska athletics, and it’s celebrating its new signee with a mural of her projected on Love Library on the school’s campus, as well as at a number of activations around Lincoln.

Esquire goes behind the scenes on high school NIL

Esquire dropped a compelling story this week, taking readers inside the world of NIL in high school. It’s a topic we’ve written about before, but writer Abigail Covington offers a new perspective through the eyes of athletes like Colorado quarterback Julian Lewis, a top recruit in the class of 2025.

The story begins by noting some of Lewis’s recent purchases, including an $11,000 vet bill for his dog, Coco; a Tesla Cybertruck; and a Darth Vader chain made with black diamonds. Then the reporter poses a pretty interesting question: Would he have been able to pay for these things without endorsement deals as a high school athlete?

Lewis’s response: “No. Impossible. I mean, we weren’t poor, but we weren’t financially on the hierarchy of the earth. Definitely no big black chains.”

The piece gets into the reality of what it’s like for young athletes to navigate this new era of NIL, from the state-to-state legalization of NIL to the wild world of agencies and brand deals.

Some intel on how much LSU spent on its roster

On Thursday, LSU coach Brian Kelly stated on his weekly radio show that the Tigers are “going to be just about $18 million,” according to nola.com. To put that into perspective, that’s $12.5 million more than LSU spent last season, according to previous reporting from the outlet; the general counsel of Bayou Traditions, the LSU collective, had cited spending of $5.5 million in 2024 and $11 million combined over the previous three seasons.

According to the story, that $18 million number is a “combination of revenue that the athletic department is now allowed to share with its players and donor-backed name, image and likeness (NIL) deals sourced largely from Bayou Traditions.”

In addition to Kelly, LSU athletic director Scott Woodward and football senior associate athletic director Austin Thomas recently opened up about their approach to NIL and even met with members of the Seattle Seahawks to “gain a greater understanding and knowledge of how to maximize the Tigers' allocation of funding into the roster,” per 247 Sports.

NIL BLITZ

♦️The NCAA is reportedly considering a new rule that would require high school athletes to report deals they’ve earned during their junior and senior years to NIL Go. That may also include athletes at junior colleges transferring to Division I programs. 

♦️ According to a press release, Michigan’s NIL collective, Champions Circle, has partnered with the College Sports Company to launch Champs Media, a network that will “produce shows, short-form video, and social media content, distributing it through its digital platforms.”

♦️ Nebraska football head coach Matt Rhule launched a podcast, “House of Rhules,” and aims for it to be a “way for players who make appearances” to earn NIL money, per ESPN.

♦️ Oregon State has hired Kyle Bjornstad as its general manager. The school also just signed a a multi-year deal with Blueprint Sports to be its marketing agency. 

♦️ DoorDash is partnering with a number of schools, including Oregon, Alabama, Georgia, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Rutgers, Stanford, Tennessee and Texas. The deal, which extends to NIL athletes, includes hosting game-day activations and sponsored tailgates. 

♦️ Wyoming Athletics is launching a portal, the Wyoming Athletics Exchange, in partnership with Teamworks Influencer. The database will be free to student-athletes and “external entities” and allow “prospective partners” the ability to discuss potential deals directly.

♦️ UCLA has partnered with the NIL agency Article 41 to help student-athletes and coaches build their brands and presence online.

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BATTER UP

Today’s Poll Question:

Last Edition’s Poll Results:

Will Arch Manning be the top pick in the NFL draft (whenever he decides to go to the NFL draft)?

• Yes - 40%

• No - 60%