On Monday night, UConn and San Diego State will face off in the men’s Final Four title game at NRG Stadium in Houston.
But no matter the final score, San Diego State — making its program debut in the Final Four — has already won off the court.
Players are capitalizing big through name, image, and likeness deals.
- Matt Bradley, the team’s leading scorer during the regular season, has seen 130% growth on Instagram in the past month, according to his agent Jordan Green, founder of Glacier Marketing Group.
- Bradley has inked five figures worth of deals this weekend alone.
- He also received VIP care packages from Oakley, Sprayground, and Cuts.
“It was difficult for us to find suitable opportunities for Matt throughout the year on a national level,” Green, who just turned 20 years old, said. “Only local San Diego brands expressed interest before the tournament. … With all this national coverage, we’ve been able to talk with some of the biggest brands.”
Conference Benefits
SDSU is the conference’s first team to make it past the Sweet 16, let alone make it to the national championship game.
In the immediacy, the team has earned millions in NCAA “units,” or men’s tournament prize money. The governing body distributes $170 million to conferences based on how many of their teams qualify and advance in the Big Dance.
“I’m optimistic this is an upward trend,” Commissioner Gloria Nevarez told FOS when the team advanced to the Elite 8 last week.
