Ohio State, Florida, Georgia Athletes Score Free Chipotle NIL Deal — Coaches Pray It Doesn’t Hit On Game Day
Burritos could be the real opponent on Saturdays for student athletes
Chipotle announced they are once again getting involved with college athletics, with a new NIL deal for scholarship and walk-on athletes at Ohio State, Florida and the Georgia Bulldogs. Hopefully these athletes aren't taking advantage of the new deal right before a game.
After partnering with Ohio State last season, and not seeing an uptick in stomach issues for the student athletes, the burrito company is getting back into the NIL space before the college football season begins.
The kicker is, now Chipotle will be offering free food for all student-athletes, no matter which sport you play. And all walk-ons can now take advantage of the NIL deal.
"Every scholarship and walk-on student athlete at all three universities will receive a special, customized Chipotle card granting them one free Chipolte entrée per week for 15 weeks," the company announced.
Can you imagine the rush in local stores in these college towns once they actually receive their free card? Heck, I would imagine some of the athletes would be giving their cards away if they weren't fans of the popular eatery.
Now, the new NIL program will be represented by more than 2,000 athletes over the next 15 weeks, which is an easy way to garner further publicity.
Here are some interesting stats about how much each school consumes the popular brand.
- 98% of student athletes at The Ohio State University eat Chipotle at least once a month
- 94% of University of Florida student athletes consider Chipotle to be one of their top three favorite restaurants
- Nearly 80% of University of Georgia student athletes consider Chipotle an important part of their training regimen.
Ok, I would really like to know how they came up with the data on Georgia athletes proclaiming that this is an important part of their diet plans, though a Chipotle bowl can go a long way. Trust me, I know.
We even had Florida QB DJ Lagway and Walter Clayton Jr. starring in one of the ads released on Wednesday for Chipotle.
Free Burritos Or Bowls: Look How Far College Athletics Has Come
Before 2021, it would've been illegal for a student athlete to accept food from an assistant coach or staff member. Now, we've got over 2,000 athletes advertising for a company.
I think that goes to show how far we've come in a short period of time.
But, we can only pray that these athletes don't decide to cash in their new deal at least 24 hours before kickoff, given that it usually doesn't sit well with the stomach. The last thing each team needs is multiple players having big-time runs off the field, when their production is needed on the actual field.
Congratulations to all these players for the free food!