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Boardroom NIL Report Card: Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr.

Between his name and his play, Ohio State WR Marvin Harrison Jr. is an NIL magnet. Boardroom breaks down his current valuation and the deals he’s signed to this point.

Just like his pops, Marvin Harrison Jr. is making a name for himself as a wide receiver.

Sure, his 1,263 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2022 have NFL teams salivating over the thought of selecting him as the next great Buckeye receiver, but he’s also among college football’s best when it comes to name, image, and likeness (NIL). While NIL didn’t exist during Sr.’s days at Syracuse, Harrison Jr. is more than making up for it at Ohio State through his name and his play.

So just how much is Harrison Jr.’s market value? What types of deals has he signed thus far in his collegiate career? Boardroom breaks it down.

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Marvin Harrison Jr. NIL Market Value

All data via On3.com’s NIL rankings as of July 19, 2023.

College Football NIL rank: 9
Overall NIL 100 rank: 12
Annual Valuation: $1.3 million
10-week High: $1.3 million
10-week Low: $1.2 million
Total Social Media Followers: 410,000 (207K on IG, 138K on TikTok, 65K on Twitter)

The above monetary figures are via On3’s NIL Valuation, a proprietary algorithm that “establishes the overall NIL market and projected 12-month growth rate by measuring two categories, Brand Value Index and Roster Value Index.”

“While the algorithm includes deal data, it does not act as a tracker of the value of NIL deals athletes have completed to date, nor does it set an athlete’s NIL valuation for their entire career.”

Notable Marvin Harrison Jr. NIL Deals

ZOA Energy

If you’re going to participate in NIL opportunities, being named one of The Rock‘s Warriors is a pretty damn cool way to go about it. Being one of just seven inaugural NIL members for The Rock’s company, Zoa Energy — alongside LSU’s Angel Reese, Austin Peay’s Hansel Enmanuel, and UNC’s Drake Maye, among others — makes it that much cooler.

“I personally selected these phenomenal individuals because of the energy, tenacity, and excitement they bring to the game,” The Rock said in a release. “With a diverse set of stories and experiences, they’re driven, hungry, talented, and ready for ZOA to help fuel them to greatness.”

Boardroom’s Russell Steinberg has full details on The Rock’s Warriors here.

Next Gen Champs

Similar to Maye, Harrison Jr. hosted a youth football camp through Next Gen Champs over the summer with some of his teammates. While this isn’t atypical from pre-NIL days, the difference now is that Next Gen handles all of the logistics of the event while also being able to promise a profit for the participating players.

In addition to the $175 it costs for kids from kindergarten through eighth grade to register for the camp — which includes group training, a 7-on-7 tournament, and a camp T-shirt — participants had the opportunity to take pictures with and get autographs from Harrison Jr. and his teammates.

Mark Wahlberg Chevrolet of Columbus

Speaking of high-profile names, it doesn’t get much bigger than Mark Wahlberg. The famous actor has a number of car dealerships in Ohio, and according to this dealership’s general manager Brian Gilmore, the partnership was a no-brainer. He told On3.com that it’s “great name recognition for us.” Harrison Jr. is the fifth Buckeye to join the Wahlberg NIL program.

Through the deal, the Biletnikoff Award finalist gets to drive around a brand new car while agreeing to post a few times on social media as well as make a physical appearance at the dealership ahead of the fall season. Even so, Gilmore said the company is conscious of the reality that these are football players with busy schedules.

“He liked it because we don’t smother our kids and ask them to do too much,” Gilmore said. “That side was very important to him. He’s a great kid and he’s so concentrated on football. We didn’t want to take away from that.”

Other notable deals: Monarc, The Foundation, Ronald McDonald House,

More NIL:

Griffin Adams

Griffin Adams is an Editor at Boardroom. He's had previous stints with The Athletic and Catena Media, and has also seen his work appear in publications such as USA Today, Sports Illustrated, and MLB.com. A University of Utah graduate, he can be seen obnoxiously cheering on the Utes on Saturdays and is known to Trust The Process as a loyal Philadelphia 76ers fan.