USC's BLVD collective signs Fletcher Jones Motorcars as official luxury car dealer
The partnerships keep rolling in for USC‘s NIL collective BLVD.
The collective announced an official partnership with Fletcher Jones Motorcars, the largest Mercedes-Benz dealership in the country. As part of the deal, USC players Jordan Addison and Tuli Tuipulotu will be driving around Mercedes-Benz S500s this fall. The cars are valued at $120,000 a piece.
The contract allows for five USC athletes to have vehicles from Fletcher Jones at one time. The deal can also be expanded in future years. Sources also told On3 that due to the liability on deals, not every USC player will be handed keys to an S500 but BLVD plans to spread around the wealth. The dealership is based in Newport Beach.
It marks a first in the NIL space — a collective signing its own official car dealership sponsor.
High-profile athletes such as C.J. Stroud and Bryce Young have each signed individual deals with dealerships. Stroud will be driving around a G Wagon this fall. But being able to simply call a dealership and give its players a luxury car is unprecedented.
“Obviously everyone knows Jordan, but Tuli is our top defensive lineman,” said BLVD’s senior account manager Spencer Harris. “He’s a true junior, going to have a big year. And now they’re driving all-black Mercedes-Benz S500s. … We just started it off as five. There’s going to be some crossover in our marketing content — it should be a pretty cool deal.
“We could get those cars to recruiting weekends. It opens up the relationship for us. Whenever they need promotion or we need cars, we can work together.”
Addison gained national attention this past offseason when he announced his transfer to USC from Pitt. He currently has an On3 NIL Valuation of $1.4 million, which is only growing. He announced a deal last week with United Airlines.
BLVD launches donor program, content series
Starting with “Run it Back,” a show dedicated to talking video games with USC athletes, BLVD is launching a content series across its platforms. Thanks to having the backing of Stay Doubted, a third-party media agency, BLVD has the structure and resources to film and produce the videos.
“Run it Back” is only the first series. Other series will include content based on cooking, music and fashion. Every participating athlete will receive NIL compensation, all while promoting and building their brand.
Distributing through BLVD social and digital outlets, each will focus on different athletes’ passions while blending the unique culture of Los Angeles. New shows and episodes will drop every week.
Since the collective launched in June, more than 90 members of the USC football program have signed on with BLVD and will receive compensation this season. In under three months, the collective has dished out seven figures in deals. More than 33% of that cash has gone to offensive and defensive linemen.
On its new website, BLVD details the membership options fans have. There are five donor levels: Exposition BLVD ($50 monthly or $600 annually), Abbot Kinney BLVD ($100 or $1,200), Santa Monica BLVD ($250 or $3,000), Hollywood ($500 or $6,000) or Sunset BLVD ($1,000 or $12,000).
The organization also has plans to secure official partnerships for the Trojans student-athletes with a goal of raising $75 million in five years — a number that appears to be within reach early on. The collective has eight figures of cash in the bank through donations and other ventures.