NCAA stars ink landmark NIL deals with Nintendo for viral social media campaign

Several NCAA football and basketball stars have signed sponsored deals with Nintendo, including a national champion.

Jeremiah Smith recently won the national title with Ohio State, but that was not until after he accomplished every little boy’s dream of being paid to play video games.

Less than a week before the 34-23 win over Notre Dame, Smith dropped a new ad for Nintendo’s gaming system the Nintendo Switch, promoting the game Fortnite.

“Practice is done, errands can wait. Got my Nintendo Switch with me,” Smith said from the driver’s seat of a car.

The new deal is likely the biggest individual video game sponsorship in college sports history, given the short life span of the name, image, and likeness deals that were authorized for NCAA athletes in 2021.

Smith is ranked No. 5 in the country in terms of NIL valuation, earning an estimated $4 million from likeness deals, according to On3. In September 2024, Smith signed a deal with Red Bull, which came a month after he announced a partnership with apparel brand Lululemon.

Those campaigns pale in comparison, though, as the Nintendo ad has nearly 500,000 views on X alone, where Smith has 77,000 followers. The ad was posted on his other social media platforms, where he has a much stronger fan base, too; Smith has more than 150,000 followers on TikTok and a whopping 400,000+ on Instagram.

Other Nintendo partners include Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart, who sports a $1.8 million valuation himself.

Washington running back Jonah Coleman and Georgia receiver Zachariah Branch also announced deals, as did basketball players Jeremy Roach from Baylor and Judea Watkins of USC.

Jonah Coleman, #1 of the Washington HuskiesPhoto by Alika Jenner/Getty Images

All of the partnerships included a deal with Epic Games, which operates a platform that recently won a monumental lawsuit against Google.

Epic Games is the developer of Fortnite, which all the athletes are seen playing in their ads.

In October 2024, a judge issued a ruling in Epic v. Google that forced Google to distribute other third-party app stores within its own app store and allow the other app stores to access its catalog of programs.

It was also ruled that developers would no longer have to pay Google a 30% app tax. Developers were given the option to use payment systems other than Google Play Billing, which saw a 30% commission go to Google for the sale of paid apps and in-app purchases, including subscriptions.

From November 2024 to November 2027, Google will also be required to let Android developers tell users about alternative payment methods, provide download links outside the Play Store, and set their own prices for apps.

Needless to say, these rulings seem to have had a positive impact on Epic Games’ ability to market the company.

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