KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Nico Iamaleava is making plenty of money off his Name, Image and Likeness sponsorship deals. This week, the up-and-coming Tennessee QB nabbed himself another deal that should add even more to his college earnings.
Iamaleava was one of 11 players named to the Beats by Dre "Beats Elite" NIL program for 2024. The company also selected fellow star SEC players from Alabama, Georgia, Ole Miss and Texas, including Georgia QB Carson Beck.
That announcement came from Learfield, a collegiate licensing and branding company that partners with the University of Tennessee and nearly 200 other universities.
As part of the deal, Beats created special Vols-themed headphones. On Friday, Tennessee Football's social media team shared a video of Iamaleava giving the headphones to all his teammates at football practice this week.
"Those are legit, those are nice. I've never seen something like that," linebacker Keenan Pili said. "That's nice of Nico and to have 'Tennessee' on it is pretty cool."
On3, a media and tech company that analyzes industry data points to project anticipated NIL values for college athletes, currently ranks Iamaleava near the top of the list for college sports at No. 15 with an expected NIL valuation of around $1.2 million. That doesn't mean he's literally getting paid $1.2 million. College NIL earnings aren't made public, so Iamaleava and his NIL agents are likely just a few who know the true dollar value.