Georgia's Malaki Starks adds NIL deals with Dunkin', T-Mobile
Malaki Starks has lived up to the preseason expectations.
The Georgia safety was tabbed as a preseason first-team All-America. And when multiple outlets rolled out their Midseason All-American teams these last few weeks, Starks has been on them. The sophomore has impressed, touting two interceptions through eight games. He’s allowed just 13 catches on 23 targets, too.
As he continues to make a strong case for the Jim Thorpe Award, he’s adding to his NIL brand. Starks has inked NIL agreements in recent weeks with T-Mobile and Dunkin’, according to his agent Jeff Hoffman of Everett Sports Marketing. Full terms of the contracts were not shared, but he recently participated in a meet-and-greet with the cellular provider.
Both deals were facilitated by ESM. The sports marketing agency has become one of the top destinations for talent through the first two years of NIL. The agency has worked with Stetson Bennett, Brock Bowers and the Cavinder twins.
What Starks’ role with Dunkin’ looks like remains to be seen, but he’s added “Team Dunkin'” to his Instagram profile. The nationwide coffee shop launched a national NIL campaign last December.
Kirby Smart can see Malaki Starks’ improvement
The top-ranked Bulldogs improved to 8-0 on Saturday, beating Florida 43-20 in Jacksonville. Starks finished with four tackles; he has 29 total tackles on the year.
Arguably the best player on one of the nation’s top defenses, the former five-star recruit has shown improvement in his second year with the program. And that comes after he contributed as a true freshman.
“Disguises. Tackling in the open field. Being a leader. I think he’s taken ownership of improving in a lot of ways,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said of Starks back in September. “I can go back and watch last year’s game of every team we’ve played that we repeat. You’re getting to see him as a freshman to now, and it jumps out at you, like, wow, man, he got really nervous last year. He was really struggling.”
Growing NIL brand
The Georgia safety has added NIL partnerships with Beats by Dre, BioSteel and J.B Grimes since signing with ESM last January. He signed a two-year NIL agreement with Associated Credit Union in July. Through the deal, he will represent the Norcross, Georgia, credit union in public relations campaigns and community outreach projects.
Malaki Starks currently holds a $493,000 On3 NIL Valuation. His valuation ranks in the top 100 of college football at No. 98. His social media following sits just under 30,000.
The On3 NIL Valuation is the industry’s leading index that sets the standard market NIL value for high school and college athletes. A proprietary algorithm, the On3 NIL Valuation calculates an athlete’s NIL value using dynamic data points targeting three primary categories: performance, influence and exposure.
About On3 NIL Valuation, Brand Value, Roster Value
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.