March Madness 2025 NIL deals—see which brands are partnering with athletes

As March Madness tips off, brands are racing to capitalize on the tournament spotlight—inking Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) deals with college athletes faster than ever. Since NIL rules changed in 2021, the market has exploded—growing from $917 million to an estimated $1.67 billion in 2024, according to a report by Opendorse, an NIL technology company. Here’s a look at some of the buzziest recent partnerships—from Raid’s quirky pick to a student manager turned social media star. And an honorable mention to soap brand Duke Cannon, which found a creative workaround by featuring the anonymous man inside Iowa State’s mascot suit—an “un-NIL” deal, since his identity remains under wraps. Athletic Brewing Company Non-alcoholic beer brand Athletic Brewing signed several athletes earlier this month, including University of Connecticut players Hassan Diarra and Caroline Ducharme, USC’s Rayah Marshall, North Carolina’s RJ Davis, Baylor’s Jeremy Roach and Texas Longhorns’ Rori Harmon. Athletic has previously made NIL deals with football players, including quarterback Quinn Ewers and running back Roydell Williams. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Athletic Brewing Co (@athleticbrewing) AT&T AT&T has partnered with Duke’s Cooper Flagg on an ad that finds Flagg winning at bingo in a hall full of old people. Flagg—one of this season’s biggest men’s college basketball stars—has also signed deals with Uber Eats and New Era Cap Company. Cava Mediterranean fast-casual chain Cava signed several athletes, including Alabama’s Mark Sears, LSU’s Aneesah Morrow, Tennessee’s Chaz Lanier, Texas’ Madison Booker and Aaliyah Moore, and Maryland’s Saylor Poffenbarger. The students will be featured in social media posts that highlight how Cava is a nutritious and meal option between games and practices. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Aneesah Morrow (@aneesahmorrow24) Data-Driven Marketing Playbook Join us May 22 in NYC to explore how data powers marketing Learn more here NYX USC’s JuJu Watkins stars in a national ad campaign for NYX, which claims to be the first beauty brand to partner with a college athlete for a nationwide ad campaign. Spots feature Watkins talking about how looking good translates to confidence on the court. Watkins has also struck deals with Gatorade, Mondelēz, Degree and State Farm. Ore-Ida Few people are likely to have the great grandson of Ore-Ida’s co-founder in the tournament on their March Madness bingo card, but here we are. Ore-Ida inked an NIL deal with BYU player Richie Saunders, whose grandfather, F.N. Griggs, a son of one of the brand’s co-founding brothers, is also credited with inventing the tater tot. To celebrate the heir, Ore-Ida teamed up with Richie for a homage to the iconic image of a young Michael Jordan during his rookie year with Nike, but Richie’s version features, what else, a bag of tater tots. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Richie Saunders (@rsaunders15) Ore-Ida is also giving fans a chance to win free tots. For each game BYU wins, fans will have until 30 minutes after the final buzzer to visit Ore-Ida’s Instagram to claim a free bag of tots by entering their email for a redeemable code. Ad Age Creativity Bookmark our section covering the best in brand creativity every day Read more here Raid Raid entered the NIL space by leaning into the “name” aspect—signing Baylor players Jeremy Roach and Darianna Littlepage-Buggs. The duo star in an ad that likens Raid’s ant and roach spray to playing defense against pests. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Raid (@raid) TickPick Ticketing platform TickPick set up its first-ever NIL deal with Amir “Aura” Khan, a student manager for the McNeese State men’s basketball team. Khan, who appears to be the first student manager to sign an NIL deal, is known for leading the team walkout, playing rap on a large boombox, where TickPick put its name on the speaker. View this post on Instagram A post shared by TickPick (@tickpick) Khan has also garnered attention from several other brands, including Buffalo Wild Wings— which gave him a branded boombox—and Insomnia Cookies. During McNeese’s winning game against Clemson on Thursday, the team cheerleaders were spotted wearing socks with Khan’s face on them. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Rock 'Em (@rockemsocks)

March Madness 2025 NIL deals—see which brands are partnering with athletes

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