Miami Hurricanes quarterback D’Eriq King was one of the quickest collegiate athletes to take advantage of the new name, image and likeness rules. Shortly after midnight, King revealed with Florida State quarterback McKenzie Milton they have joined Dreamfield a NIL-based platform working with student-athletes.
Dreamfield will book live events for collegiate athletes to include autograph signings, in-person meet and greets and speaking engagements. Non Fungible Tokens that are becoming increasingly more valuable will also become a part of the Dreamfield platform. King is expected to release his own NFT later this month.
King will also endorse Tampa-based companies, College Hunks Hauling Junk and Moving and Murphy Auto Group. College Hunks was started by an alum of the Miami business school and King was connected to Murphy Auto Group through former Miami Hurricanes wide receiver Ahmmon Richards.
King received a $10,000 signing bonus from College Hunks and Murphy Auto Group as well as monthly compensation in the future. King will also be able to promote himself through social media. King has 38,700 followers on Instagram and 23,400 followers on Twitter. King released a statement to ESPN.
"“We are entering a new era of technology that allows sports trading cards to move from the physical realm to the digital one, and I am proud to be on the forefront of this change.Being one of the first college athletes in history to have a high-quality NFT created in my likeness is a dream come true, and to help other athletes be memorialized in digital art through Dreamfield is a big reason why I helped create this company.”"
Add Canes DB @BubbaBolden to the first-ever NIL deal list! I’m told Bolden inked the same exact deal as teammate D’Eriq King. Bolden earned All-ACC honors last season and was a Thorpe Award semifinalist. It’s a new day! 💯💰
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) July 1, 2021
King and Milton are at the forefront of the name, image and likeness revolution. Jordan Schultz of ESPN reported Miami safety Bubba Bolden inked an identical deal with College Hunks. King also took the initiative of creating his own website, DeriqKing.shop where he will sell apparel, memorabilia and announce appearances.
Miami volleyball player Taylor Burrell is one of four women athletes that will initially split $10,000 from Milner Technologies and could receive more money if the partnership progresses successfully. Women athletes could benefit more than men from NIL with opportunities to build their social media followings.
All Miami Hurricanes athletes are in a good position to benefit from their name, image and likeness. Few schools nationally are in a city with the opportunities Miami has and as a Power Five conference school. Only UCLA and USC are comparable. NIL will continue to evolve as the schools and NCAA future it out.