NC State's on-court success translating to NIL deals off it

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Less than two weeks ago, NC State was tied late against Louisville in the opening round of the ACC Tournament. Counting that game, the Wolfpack have reeled off seven wins, capturing the ACC Championship and earning a spot in the Sweet 16.

While their sights are on bigger goals, the winning streak has already made a major impact for some of the team's players.

"It is a six figure business just this month for NC State," said Jamie Mottram, President of BreakingT, which has licensing deals with NC State student-athletes.

Before the tournament started, star DJ Burns Jr. shared a link to a shirt from the company featuring his name and image.

"The school and the student athletes are participating in every one of those sales. You know, if it's a shirt that features an NC State athlete, he or she is receiving proceeds from that sale and all of the sales support the school," Mottram explained.

Calling the recent sales figures "almost unprecedented," Mottram noted many of the top sellers are a direct result of the team's recent on-court performance.

"It just really adds up to a special run that that people want to celebrate, they'll want to remember. The way that we operate is we're trying to create things that are custom to the market, to the fanbase," Mottram noted.

The winning ways have also led to a surge of contributions to 1Pack NIL, which works with NC State student-athletes.

"People donate $250 to the collective, they get a signed 8X10 photo of each member of the men's basketball team. So then we're able to compensate the players for the money that's raised from that activity. So that fundraiser alone has raised over $100,000," said Chris Vurnakes, General Manager of 1Pack NIL.

Those deals, combined with the attention they receive, could play a role in future recruiting efforts.

"When you see the level of success that we can have based on the support that we already have received, you see a path for NC State to stay competitive and win more championships," said Vurnakes.

"Being able to compete on a NIL level is going to be something that's going to be critical for schools to stay competitive on the national scene. NC State has a great brand in the state of North Carolina, so this is a great chance to expand that brand nationally in this day and age," added Dr. Michael Edwards, an Associate Professor of Sport Management at NC State.

Ahead of the women's game Monday afternoon, fans lined up two hours before to greet the team, a sign of the sport's popularity.

"It makes it makes me very happy to see all our girls get this much to support because they're just they're great girls," said Aubrey Pardue, an NC State fan.

She was wearing Saniya Rivers jersey, one of several pieces of apparel featuring the names of Wolfpack players.

"Saniya Rivers has multiple NIL deals outside of the collective, Madison Hayes has NIL deals, they've all done the basketball card promotion where they're signing cards, branded and licensed," Vurnakes noted.

"We're seeing women's athletes really being able to leverage the NIL space at a very lucrative level," added Edwards.

"We're seeing that grow more and more than, it used to be just the big-time schools. And now we're seeing it spread more and more to smaller schools, smaller conferences and share the wealth, and I think it's just great," said Wolfpack fan Doug Robson.

This is the first time since 1989 that both NC State men's and women's teams are heading to the Sweet 16.