JuJu Watkins Secures Multi-Year Deal With Fanatics, Marking The First-Of-Its-Kind For A Women's College Athlete

JuJu Watkins has secured a groundbreaking NIL deal.

The USC Trojans basketball athlete currently boasts a $739,000 name, image, and likeness (NIL) valuation, thanks to deals with Ritz Crackers, Degree, United Airlines, and NYX Cosmetics.

“We are beyond excited to welcome JuJu to the NYX Professional Makeup family,” said Yasmin Dastmalchi, general manager of NYX Professional Makeup, in a news release. “JuJu’s spirit, talent, and commitment to excellence make her a perfect pick for our brand. We can’t wait to support her as she uses her voice to further inspire our community and share our core values.”

Watkins is already making groundbreaking moves as a collegiate athlete. As AFROTECH™ previously told you, she extended a multi-year contract with Nike, becoming “one of the richest shoe endorsement deals in women’s basketball.”

More recently, she expanded her portfolio by adding Fanatics and Fanatics Collectibles, marking the brand’s first with a women’s college athlete, per ESPN. The Athletic reports that Watkins signed a multi-year deal with the digital sports conglomerate, encompassing autographed memorabilia and trading cards featuring Watkins’ autograph and game-worn items.

“I actually love unboxing trading cards, it’s really satisfying to me. This deal kind of pays homage to the fact that cards are such a big part of sports culture, so to be able to do something with the biggest brand in sports collectibles; it’s really cool to do. This is kind of like a rite of passage as a basketball player and it’s a great opportunity for me,” she told Sports Illustrated.

Moreover, Watkins became the first female college athlete to secure a partnership of this magnitude with Fanatics. Watkins’ goal is for these benchmarks to become more frequent for women athletes.

“The thing is to make it more common. I feel like we’re in a space where everything is kind of groundbreaking, and the intent is to make it more of a regular thing, and hopefully more women get more opportunities like this,” she expressed, according to Sports Illustrated.