Tennessee's Jalin Hyatt signs NIL deal with Volunteer Club
Jalin Hyatt played a major role in helping Tennessee break its 15-game streak of losing on the third Saturday in October.
Now Volunteer fans have a way to give thanks to the wide receiver. The Volunteer Club, which is facilitated by Spyre Sports Group, is providing the tools behind the initiative. Hyatt has signed with the NIL group, and he tweeted out a link to the Volunteer Club’s website on Wednesday afternoon.
Hyatt will receive the profits of all new memberships he drives to the Volunteer Club in the first month. And he will receive another 20% moving forward. In exchange, the wide receiver will send fans a free, signed picture of himself. It’s a pretty easy way for Tennessee fans to show their appreciation for Hyatt’s performance.
Plans are in place for current members to be given a way to support Hyatt as well.
“When athletes create memorable moments on the field, like Jalin did on Saturday, fans want to rally around that,” Spyre’s co-founder James Clawson told On3. “Whether it’s an appearance at a local store, a national brand deal or a deal like we just like created, we are going to monetize these moments for Tennessee student athletes.”
The Volunteer Club supports Tennessee student-athletes through a monthly membership program. To date, it has distributed more than $4.5 million to Tennessee athletes. Ninety percent of every dollar generated through the club goes to athletes. The remaining 10% covers costs related to creating events for athletes and fans.
The junior tallied six catches for 207 yards and five touchdowns on Saturday night against Alabama. He became the first player since DeVonta Smith in 2019 to have 200 receiving yards and five receiving touchdowns in a game.
Jalin Hyatt has 33 catches on the season for 595 yards and 10 touchdowns. He’s averaging 18 yards per catch, too. Hyatt has taken a much more prominent role in the Tennessee offense with Cedric Tillman dealing with an ankle injury.
And Tennessee is now ranked No. 3 in the nation following last weekend’s win.
Jalin Hyatt only starting to tap into NIL potential
Tuesday’s announcement is not the only NIL move Hyatt has made since the legendary performance. He is also involved in a co-licensed line of apparel that says “GIMME 5” through the apparel company BreakingT.
The shirts and hoodies feature Hyatt’s name, a picture of him catching a pass and the Tennessee logo, which means the university approved the use of school marks for the NIL deal. Youth t-shirts are available for $30, adult shirts cost $34 and hoodies are $57. The distribution of the apparel to area retailers started less than 72 hours after Tennessee’s win.
“I think that’s pretty meaningful, too, because they didn’t have to show up at a car dealership or make some radio appearance or what have you,” BreakingT President Jamie Mottram told On3’s Andy Wittry on Monday. “This is passive income that’s really enabling their work on the field to work for them off the field.”
Tennessee wide receiver’s soaring On3 NIL Valuation
Entering the Alabama game, he held an On3 NIL Valuation of $276,000. Hyatt now holds an On3 NIL Valuation of $611,00, a $335,000 jump following the win.
The On3 NIL Valuation is the industry’s leading index that sets the standard NIL market value for high school and college athletes. The On3 NIL Valuation utilizes a proprietary algorithm that calculates an athlete’s NIL market value using dynamic data points targeting three primary categories, including an athlete’s performance, influence and exposure.
His social media following has a lot to do with the growth. Entering Saturday’s game, the wide receiver’s Instagram had roughly 15,700 followers. The number now sits now north of 60,000. He also saw his Twitter following jump 17.4% to more than 20,500.
Hyatt now ranks No. 53 in the On3 NIL 100, which is the first of its kind and defacto NIL ranking of the top 100 high school and college athletes ranked by their On3 NIL Valuation. He ranks No. 31 among college football players.