Star Power: Gators QB DJ Lagway’s NIL Game A Big Winner

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — He played well enough in his first season to earn Freshman All-American honors, rejuvenated the Gators and their hungry fan base by winning six of his seven starts, and enters his sophomore season as one of college football’s marquee players.

No disrespect to 7-foot-9 Gators center and O’Dome favorite Olivier Rioux – a marketing standout on the rise in his own right – but UF sophomore quarterback DJ Lagway is currently the undisputed big man on campus.

“He is QB1 at a top-five brand in college football,” said Ben Chase, Florida’s director of name, image and likeness (NIL) strategy. “When you come to play at a place like Florida, and you attach your brand to the Gators’ brand, this is what happens in the NIL era.”

 

Lagway, much to the relief of Florida fans, is back on the field after an offseason hampered by injuries. He will make his first career start in a season opener on Saturday night when the Gators host Long Island University.

 

While much of the football-centric news over the past eight months centered on Lagway’s aches and pains, the 20-year-old Lagway’s business profile has thrived, much like Apple stock in the late 1990s, when Steve Jobs returned to the company. Lagway’s latest deal was announced on Friday, when Jordan Brand revealed an NIL partnership with Lagway, who joins a select roster of handpicked talent, including NFL quarterbacks Jalen Hurts and Bryce Young, on Jumpman’s roster of football players.

 

The Jordan Brand deal is just one of a string of Lagway endorsements that have made him a national figure – 192 passes into his college career. Lagway’s agreements stretch far and wide.

On the national level, Lagway has partnered with headphone company Beats by Dre, shot a T-Mobile commercial with Patrick Mahomes and Rob Gronkowski, signed an NIL deal with Gatorade, and appeared on the cover of the EA Sports College Football 26 Deluxe Edition video game.

Lagway also has a strong local portfolio.

DJ’s Cast Iron Burgers, a food truck located off West Newberry Road in Gainesville, features The Lagway Burger. Lagway has a NIL deal with Lamborghini Orlando and an equity partnership with NIL Launchpoint, a mobile and web platform designed to connect college athletes with brands for NIL deals.

Lagway has also demonstrated a philanthropic spirit, partnering with UF Health for a $50,000 donation through the DJ Lagway Foundation. In March, he reportedly…