With so many eyes on college basketball for the NCAA Tournament, NIL deals are “now a part of the tradition” as a player can “go viral on the court and then immediately make money off it,” according to Jesse Dougherty of the WASHINGTON POST. Oakland G Jack Gohlke has had merchandise released by Campus Ink and he also “posted a video for TurboTax, shot in a hallway at the team’s hotel.” Campus Ink designed two T-shirts, one of them “featuring Gohlke’s entire shot chart.” Campus Ink Dir/Marketing & Communications Sean Ellenby “used the email listed in Gohlke’s Instagram bio, sending the mock-ups,” and one of Gohlke’s friends, who made the account for marketing inquiries, told Ellenby to “ship a contract over.” Dougherty noted Campus Ink is “always looking for what they call hot moments.” Buffalo Wild Wings “does the same,” though it is “specifically watching for players who force overtime.” In the first week of the men’s and women’s tournaments alone, Buffalo Wild Wings did marketing deals with Grambling G Jimel Cofer, Northwestern G Brooks Barnhizer, Kansas G Zakiyah Franklin and Gohlke. These NIL deals are “not for much money.” For smaller brand deals, players will “sometimes just get the product as payment, with maybe enough to share with their teammates.” For lesser-known players, it can be “important to strike while the March lights are hot.” Gohlke will “never be more famous than he was this past weekend” (WASHINGTON POST, 3/25).
