College Athletes Can Now Get Paid, But It’s Not Easy. NFL Prospect Braden Fiske Shares The Biggest Do’s And Don’ts.

Source: Business Insider, Tiara White
Photo: Braden Fiske at the 2024 NFL Combine (Grady Sports Agency)

Braden Fiske is a defensive tackle for Florida State projected to be drafted by the NFL.

He shares his experience trying to make the most of his name, likeness, and image.

He advises students to network and learn to say no to offers.

Until recently, the National Collegiate Athletic Association barred student athletes from being compensated despite the billions of dollars their efforts were earning for their universities.

That changed on July 1, 2021, when the US Supreme Court ruled that students could be paid through the use of their name, image, and likeness.

Students still cannot be paid by universities, but they can sign deals that allow them to participate in one-off marketing campaigns in exchange for free products, gift cards, or cash payouts. College athletes can also receive money by autographing signs, creating or sharing branded content, making guest appearances, and being a spokesperson for a company or brand.

We’re now seeing college athletes from several sports score so-called NIL deals ranging from five to seven figures. For example, the son of LeBron James, Bronny James, is the highest-paid student athlete with an NIL valuation of $4.9 million, according to On3, a college sports news and data company.

But receiving NIL money is not easy and not every college athlete will score a big payout — or any payout in some cases.

To learn more about making the most of the NIL opportunity, Business Insider sat down with Braden Fiske, a defensive lineman at Florida State University who is projected to make millions if he is drafted to the NFL in April, according to news articles and reports.

He has signed several NIL deals since joining the Florida State Seminoles in 2023, and other deals are in the works. He shared what he has learned and what he would have done differently so younger athletes can learn from his experience. He advises college athletes to maintain a steady social media presence, build a team of advisors, invest the earnings wisely, and learn to say no.

This is an as-told-to essay based on a conversation with Fiske that has been edited for length and clarity.

My life-changing deal

I grew up playing football and decided to go to Western Michigan University for the start of my football career. The school was not a major football school, so I transferred to Florida State University for a better opportunity to make it to the NFL. It was a challenging transition, the culture was completely different, I was away from my family and I dealt with shoulder injury when I arrived. But looking back it ended up being one of the best decisions of my life because I signed my first NIL deal through The Battle End, a website that raises money for Florida State University football players.

That 6-figure NIL deal changed my life. I remember a time when I was down to my last $20 and had to decide if I was going to spend it on gas or food. The money I received gave me a peace of mind I did not have previously. It also allowed me to give back to the community by attending guest appearances as well as charity events.

I’m 24 and making the most of the NIL opportunity has been a learning experience, so, I came up with a few tips to help younger athletes get started.

Use social media

I think the biggest thing for guys and gals looking for NIL deals is to start building your brand. Get yourself out there even if it’s an uncomfortable situation to post, which it was for me.

Social media is the one thing I didn’t really take advantage of early on in my career. I am not really into that type of stuff so it was new ground for me. But my marketer, Nicole, explained how important it is because if you have nothing posted on your Instagram, what are brands supposed to work with? If you don’t have a face on your page, how are they going to put your face on their brand?

Building my brand is something I’ve really started to pick up on this past year. And now I am starting to see the long-term benefits. You start building with a bigger following and once it starts to build, the more attention you get, the more brands want to come work with you.

Build a team

Because I signed my NIL deal through the collective, I did not need to hire an NIL expert to help me with the contract. But some guys definitely have NIL agents to help guide them through that process.

But if you want branding deals, you have to build a team to guide you. Currently, I have a team around me: I have my marketer and agent Nicole Kotler, publicist Daniel Flores, financial advisor Didier Occident, and NFL agent Joshua Grady. I mean, it’s a lot of work to find these opportunities, so you need somebody in your corner that’s reliable and ready to work. The PR and the marketing side of things is hard work. There’s going to be a lot of nos, but once they get that one, yes, any door can open.

Learn to say no

I would say, just stay true to yourself. I know some of these big brands or these big people can kind of try to sway or persuade you in different directions and tell you what you need to do. But I mean, for one, do your own research. Know what your worth is. Don’t let somebody put a dollar amount on your head because, at the end of the day, you know what your worth is and you’ve got to have the ability to say no.

I think for me, early on — even sometimes now — I can admit to it that I’m a people pleaser and it’s hard to say no sometimes. But it’s only two letters, man! A hundred percent stay true to yourself. Don’t let anybody try to sway you.

Invest and spend wisely

A lot of guy’s first instinct is to spend, go be the big baller, to go take care of family more than they’re financially able to. But next thing they know, they’re out of money or tax time comes and they don’t have any money to pay back.

I definitely think there needs to be more financial literacy taught to student athletes, especially when they are receiving large amounts of money. It doesn’t matter how much you make, even if you’re only getting five grand. Whatever it may be, $5,000 or $500,000, you still need to have an understanding of how to manage your money and work with your money and give yourself a plan. That’s the biggest thing guys don’t have is a plan.

In my case, I used a lot of my NIL money for investments. I put much of that money into a brokerage account in the stock market to set myself up for retirement.

Definitely early on I made a few mistakes. I saw the dollar sign and hit the mall up to go shopping. I love buying shoes, that’s one red flag about me. But other than that, I was actually pretty smart with it all and kept my head on straight. It did help that I was already 24 when I got my NIL not 18. If I was 18, I probably would be broke by now.

Get out and meet people

There’s so much opportunity in the world, especially when you talk about name, image, and likeness on a deeper level than just making money. The hands I’ve gotten to shake, the amount of business cards I’ve gotten to take and just the relationships I made are the biggest takeaways from it all. NIL can open so many doors for people more than just building your pockets up.

The more people you get to meet, the more opportunities are going to arise and doors are going to open. So that’s definitely for me, the biggest takeaway is just what people can you meet?

I know whenever I walk into a room, I will introduce myself and start building those relationships right away because you never know how important they will be later in life. You never know who’s going to be in a position to help you that they’re not in yet.

Tiara White is a fellow with Business Insider’s finance team. Previously, she was an editorial intern at Ad Age and attended the Craig Newmark School of Journalism for her master’s degree in New York City.

https://www.businessinsider.com/branden-fiske-how-to-get-paid-college-athlete