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The NCAA doesn’t pay its athletes for representing their college. The college basketball athletes instead earn money primarily through two sources – either the conventional endorsements where the company inks a deal with athletes to appear on their ads or posts on social media. The other method to get compensation is through Name, Image and Likeness deals. The NIL as the abbreviation suggests gives others the right to use their Name, Image and Likeness for their products or services.
The NIL deals recently came into effect from July 1, 2021, and the college athletes haven’t looked back ever since. One such athlete is the Louisiana State University Lady Tigers’ star Angel Reese. Though Angel Reese herself was admitted to the University of Maryland as a five-star recruit on a scholarship, she transferred to the LSU under head coach Kim Mulkey and earned a reputation for herself.
How much does Angel Reese earn through NIL deals?
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Reese shot to fame after signing an NIL deal with Sports Illustrated. Reese had a ballpark evaluation of around $370,000 before the swimsuit deal, which increased exponentially to $1.4 million. This made her the top posited women’s basketball college athlete ahead of her teammate Flau’jae Johnson and rival Caitlin Clark.
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In addition to the Sports Illustrated deal, Reese has affiliations with PlayStation, Raising Canes, McDonald’s, Coach, Wingstop, Outback Steakhouse and Amazon. As per On3, Reese partnered up with JanSport to advertise their backpacks. In the video ad, Reese can be seen using multiple different bags from the company in her daily life. The LSU stretch four also signed a deal with the luxury bag company Coach that made her gift each of her teammates a tote bag of the same brand.
The Bayou Barbie in 2023 signed another deal with Mercedes-Benz of Baton Rouge and received a EQS580 as a gift. The company paid for a part of the car while the other part was paid by Reese herself. The deal came to fruition with the help of the LSU’s Bayou Collective.
Once Reese powered her team to win the NCAA women’s basketball championship by defeating the Iowa Hawkeyes, there was no looking back. Reese had already grown extremely popular with her use of ‘You can’t see me’ gesture that even had NBA legends like Shaquille O’ Neal vying for her.
The boost in popularity helped her sign a deal with PlayStation. Reese was seen promoting the company’s Final Fantasy XVI video game and joined the bandwagon with stars like Caleb Williams. She can be seen playing the game on her console in the advertisement.
Reese was again in the news when she was signed by Reebok as a part of its revival plans. Rebook recently appointed the NBA legend Shaq O’Neal as its President for Basketball. Owing to Shaq’s global appeal, the company decided to execute its resurgence plans.
As per USA Today, Reebok’s NIL deal will include “Angel’s Picks,” a personalized collection of products that Reese selects. She will also work on releasing her own collection that she will help design.
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Sports: THE ESPYS Red Carpet Jul 12, 2023 Los Angeles, CA, USA LSU basketball player Angel Reese arrives on the red carpet before the 2023 ESPYS at the Dolby Theatre. Los Angeles CA USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xKirbyxLeex 20230712_lbm_al2_119
Overall, Reese’s NIL valuation has increased to a whopping $1.7 million, and she is only behind the LSU’s star Livvy Dunne among women athletes. Overall, she occupies the 7th position in the list of highest NIL-achieving college athletes.
Her enormous strides in paychecks being just in college can be gauged from the fact that she released a scholarship for her alma mater, St. Frances Academy where she donates a generous sum of $12,000 for a student’s yearly tuition.
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WATCH THIS STORY: Ahead of Archrival Caitlin Clark and $110,000,000 Worth Out-of-Favor NBA Star, Angel Reese Rules High Among the Biggest College Stars
Thus, Reese is in her final year with a valuation of $1.7 million and will make herself available for the WNBA draft 2024. Though she is still in college, she has been earning quite at par with many WNBA athletes.