MINNEAPOLIS — As more and more companies familiarize themselves to the possibilities they can have by making Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) deals with student-athletes, Chegg — a learning platform for college kids — woke up to an opportunity with Minnesota native Paige Bueckers.
"We are ecstatic to partner with Paige and with Goodr to shine a light on something that's important to all of us," Chegg Vice President of performance marketing, Brad Matthews said. "In this case, it's student hunger. So as a student-focused company, Chegg has understood that it's exhilarating to be a student, but it's also really hard to be a student."
Through this deal, Bueckers will bring awareness to food insecurity when it comes to college students.
Pop-up grocery stores that will provide meals are being planned, with permanent stores in the works too.
This was a choice Bueckers made to do good with her name, image and likeness.
"It is a sponsorship deal, but it's also — there's also a partnership that extends beyond the economic terms," Matthews said. "So Paige has been very, very clear from the very beginning when she is going to engage in any sort of partnership, it needs to be about doing good."
In a world where she could have landed any deal, she decided to be intentional about her influence.
"Just her Instagram posts alone might be worth $62,000," Parker Daniels Kibort attorney Ryan Malone said. "She does our state very proud and I think that it was — a great decision on her part to make this part of her platform because she has — I don't think it's controversial to say the largest platform right now in probably in all of college basketball."
And in terms of whether these deals may be more lucrative for male or female athletes?
Malone says it's really not about gender, but more about revenue generated by the sport itself.
"There are athletes — both men and women — who are wonderful at water polo or volleyball or swimming or gymnastics or wrestling, whatever it is, they're incredible athletes," Malone said. "And they may not generate the same amount of revenue, so while phenomenal women's basketball players may generate revenue and create NIL opportunities as far as we can tell, there is no mechanism in place to make sure there is fairness between men's sports and women's sports."
"Paige is a student, she's an athlete, but she's also an all-star student," Matthews added. "We're delighted that our interests align and she thinks that Chegg is valuable to her learning as well so yeah we're flattered we're very excited and we wish her the very best this weekend."
Watch more Breaking The News:
Watch all of the latest stories from Breaking The News in our YouTube playlist: