Geno on Paige and NIL

[RoadMaster]

Swipe..

 

[Bone Dog]

"...except me!"

 

[CL82]

The season is long over, but the honors keep rolling in for Paige Bueckers. On Monday, the UConn superstar was named the NIL Store’s Top Earning Female Athlete, beating out fellow finalists such as former teammate Nika Mühl, LSU’s Angel Reese and Iowa’s Gabbie Marshall.​

The award means Bueckers’ merchandise sales through The NIL Store were higher than any other women’s college athlete in the nation. The products included jerseys, t-shirts and hoodies that featured Bueckers’ name, image or likeness.

Ever since the NIL era came to college sports in 2021, Bueckers has taken full advantage of the new rules. She’s signed deals with the likes of Gatorade, Nike, Bose, Dunkin’, Crocs and plenty others.

Elsewhere in The NIL Store Awards, the Huskies’ pink Play4Kay jerseys were nominated for the Philanthropic Spirit Award while Kyle Muncy, the school’s director of brand partnerships and licensing, won Licensing Director of the Year.

 

[Ozimoto]

Just saw Paige in a Verizon commercial this weekend.

 

[oldude]

All you have to do to understand why Paige is the top earning female athlete at the NIL store, is to go to a game and see literally hundreds, if not thousands, of young fans, mostly girls, but not exclusively, who are decked out in #5 UConn jerseys. Then hang around after the game to see many of those same fans lined up for an autograph or selfie with their hero.

 

[AzzisBraids]

She's due for a multi-million dollar season as a senior. Only JuJu Watkins can get close

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Here's a NIL ad by Paige that is new to me:

 

[Galaxyshooter]

At this point why would she turn pro and make less money and deal with the same politics that Catlin Clark is dealing with not? If I were her agent I would advise her to stay another year in college, clearly for her, it's more profitable. It's all about getting the bag in today's sports athletes, teams, and broadcasters all want the bag with the fans being an after thought.

 

[hoopsfan22]

At this point why would she turn pro and make less money and deal with the same politics that Catlin Clark is dealing with not? If I were her agent I would advise her to stay another year in college, clearly for her, it's more profitable. It's all about getting the bag in today's sports athletes, teams, and broadcasters all want the bag with the fans being an after thought.

Because she's already a year older than she should be in a career where age matters, maybe she doesn't want to keep playing school, wants to play against the best in the world like any true competitor, and so on.

 

[oldude]

Because she's already a year older than she should be in a career where age matters, maybe she doesn't want to keep playing school, wants to play against the best in the world like any true competitor, and so on.

Yes, I think this year is “do or die” for Paige’s aspirations to lead her team to a national championship. Regardless of the outcome, she’s made it pretty clear that it’s on to the W after this season where Paige will be a star as well as a fixture on the US Olympic team for years to come.

 

[Zarathustra]

"...except me!"

One FUNNY Guy!

 

[JellyBean]

At this point why would she turn pro and make less money and deal with the same politics that Catlin Clark is dealing with not? If I were her agent I would advise her to stay another year in college, clearly for her, it's more profitable. It's all about getting the bag in today's sports athletes, teams, and broadcasters all want the bag with the fans being an after thought.

Why would she turn pro? I am guessing that she would want to compete with the best of the best at the highest level of women's basketball here in the states and if she wants to play overseas during the off-season against some of the global best of the best. As for staying another year. I don't think that is an option for Paige and if it was an option, I am pretty sure she wants to start the next chapter in her life. Congrats, Paige!

 

[Geew1992]

Why would she turn pro? I am guessing that she would want to compete with the best of the best at the highest level of women's basketball here in the states and if she wants to play overseas during the off-season against some of the global best of the best. As for staying another year. I don't think that is an option for Paige and if it was an option, I am pretty sure she wants to start the next chapter in her life. Congrats, Paige!

It is an option but I agree with you. This will be her 5th year.

 

[Geew1992]

At this point why would she turn pro and make less money and deal with the same politics that Catlin Clark is dealing with not? If I were her agent I would advise her to stay another year in college, clearly for her, it's more profitable. It's all about getting the bag in today's sports athletes, teams, and broadcasters all want the bag with the fans being an after thought.

Why would she make less money? All her NIL deals will go with her. Not sure why you think it's more profitable. She'll probably make more because she'll have a salary and her NIL

 

[Dugway]

Why would she make less money? All her NIL deals will go with her. Not sure why you think it's more profitable. She'll probably make more because she'll have a salary and her NIL

I think that there is a difference between NIL money and Endorsement money. I am not an expert on this, so someone who knows more can certainly correct me. But I believe that all of her Endorsement money would (could) go with her; that is her commercials, advertisings, shoe sponsorship, etc. Her NIL money is a percentage of the #5 UConn Jerseys that are sold; these are the official retail sales of that product which the player basically receives a commission.

If she were to leave the NCAA and move into the professional ranks, she will for the first several seasons make the Rookie Salary which is based upon where the player is drafted. For Paige assume it will be more or less $80K per year. So, if a player were to make more on Jersey sales than $80K, in theory there would be a net loss of income. I don't know how much she actually gets from Jersey sales, but apparently it is more than anyone else so maybe it does amount to more than $80K?

This article was about her making more NIL money than anyone else ... so, okay, be interesting to know where does Livvy Dunne fits into that mix? They don't really put a jersey number and/or names on the back of a gymnastic leotard, so I suspect that her 'sales volumes' probably would not amount to the same. But from a name and facial recognition standpoint, I suspect that she is more popular. I mean, I see YouTube videos all of the time where the creator doesn't even know how to pronounce Paige's last name - 'Buckers', or some weird 'Bee-u-kers'. It drives me nuts! I post negative comments in those video's sayin', "Hey fool, if you want clicks, at a minimum you should figure out how to pronounce her name!'

 

[hoopsfan22]

I think that there is a difference between NIL money and Endorsement money. I am not an expert on this, so someone who knows more can certainly correct me. But I believe that all of her Endorsement money would (could) go with her; that is her commercials, advertisings, shoe sponsorship, etc. Her NIL money is a percentage of the #5 UConn Jerseys that are sold; these are the official retail sales of that product which the player basically receives a commission.

If she were to leave the NCAA and move into the professional ranks, she will for the first several seasons make the Rookie Salary which is based upon where the player is drafted. For Paige assume it will be more or less $80K per year. So, if a player were to make more on Jersey sales than $80K, in theory there would be a net loss of income. I don't know how much she actually gets from Jersey sales, but apparently it is more than anyone else so maybe it does amount to more than $80K?

This article was about her making more NIL money than anyone else ... so, okay, be interesting to know where does Livvy Dunne fits into that mix? They don't really put a jersey number and/or names on the back of a gymnastic leotard, so I suspect that her 'sales volumes' probably would not amount to the same. But from a name and facial recognition standpoint, I suspect that she is more popular. I mean, I see YouTube videos all of the time where the creator doesn't even know how to pronounce Paige's last name - 'Buckers', or some weird 'Bee-u-kers'. It drives me nuts! I post negative comments in those video's sayin', "Hey fool, if you want clicks, at a minimum you should figure out how to pronounce her name!'

I don't think there's a material difference between NIL money and endorsement money. Maybe NIL money is passive through jersey sales while endorsements generally require the endorser to do something to fulfill their obligations and get paid. That said, Paige is gonna sell a boatload of Bueckers jerseys no matter which team logo is on the front.

 

[yhun89]

NIL deals follow through into the pros I think. Isn’t there an interview with Paige/Boston on NIL from a few months back? Paige makes it clear that she’s not money motivated when choosing to move on from college ball.

 

[oldude]

To the extent that Paige earns money off of UConn merchandise sales (jerseys, t-shirts, etc.) that income will not follow her into the W. However, Paige’s SF Valkyries jersey will be one hot seller….