Gatorade signs Duke Basketball’s Cooper Flagg to NIL deal

Gatorade adds another major athlete to its already loaded portfolio.

Freshman Duke men’s basketball player Cooper Flagg has agreed to a name, image and likeness deal PepsiCoowned by Gatorade, according to an announcement Tuesday. Flagg is projected to be the first overall draft pick in the 2025 National Basketball Association Draft and already has NIL deals with brands like New Balance and New Era.

“This has been a big year for me, both on and off the field, and Gatorade has been there the whole time,” Flagg said in a press release. “From the moment I was named Gatorade Outstanding Male Player of the Year to now officially joining the team, it has been surreal to see my name mentioned among some of the biggest names in basketball. The Gatorade roster is iconic and I’m excited to be involved as I take this next step.”

As part of the deal, Gatorade will use Flagg in its marketing. Terms of the deal, like Flagg’s, were not disclosed.

Flagg is the latest example of what is already a dramatically different college sports landscape than it was before 2021. Since the approval of NIL deals, college athletes have been able to benefit from endorsement deals in ways that were never possible before.

Players like Flagg, a highly touted prospect and likely NBA star, have been able to land NIL deals, some of which are reportedly worth millions of dollars.

Flagg is Gatorade’s first men’s college basketball athlete, joining women’s basketball stars such as Paige Bueckers of the University of Connecticut and JuJu Watkins of the University of Southern California, as well as collegiate football stars such as Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders.

“Cooper is an incredible talent who has quickly emerged as one of the best young athletes in the country, and we know he has a bright future ahead of him,” Jeff Kearney, global head of sports marketing at Gatorade, said in a statement. “At Gatorade, we work with the best of the best, so we are proud to welcome Cooper to the family and are excited to fuel him as his collegiate career begins.”

Flagg signed his NIL deals before playing in a single-season college basketball game. Duke plays its first regular-season game against Maine on Monday.