For decades, college athletics was a profoundly inequitable enterprise. The popularity of sports like college football and events like March Madness drove billions of dollars in revenues, while the athletes, the majority of them Black in huge revenue drivers like football and basketball, were “amateur student athletes,” prohibited from being paid for their efforts.
That all changed in 2021 following the Supreme Court’s decision in NCAA vs. Alston, which permitted college athletes to profit off their name, image, and likeness (hence “NIL”). They could now sign endorsement deals with a wide range of sponsors, from million dollar pacts with billion dollar publicly traded companies like Nike to agreements with the local pizzeria near campus.
The NIL era is an unequivocally good thing, both for college sports and labor equity in general. The idea that the star attractions of a business that makes tens of billions of dollars should get paid seven figures is glaringly obvious. But let it also be said that handing teenagers millions of dollars is a recipe for reckless spending. These are the 10 Most Outlandish NIL Purchases.
Carson Beck, Georgia football
Purchase: Lamborghini Urus Performante
Cost: $270,000 (up to $300,000 with customization)
Beck scored a $3 million-plus deal to transfer to Miami before the 2025 season, but his Lambo dates from his time at Georgia. He first appeared with the hatchback-looking whip in the offseason before his final campaign in Athens, and while it’s not clear whether he bought the car or leased it or it was part of an NIL sponsorship deal, he was still in possession of it in February 2025 when it was reported stolen from his Miami residence (he later got it back). Fun fact: All Lamborghinis (even the hatchbacks) come factory-equipped with four wheels—coincidentally the same number of interceptions Beck threw in Miami’s loss to Louisville this season.
Hanna Cavinder, Miami basketball
Purchase: Range Rover
Cost: $110,000
Last January, Miami guard Hanna Cavinder and her sister/teammate Haley went on a simple sibling shopping excursion to pick up a couple of new cars. Of course the Cavinder Twins are two of the most notable athletes of the NIL era, leveraging a robust social media following they’d accrued even before the advent of NIL into multiple six-figure sponsorships. So it was no surprise that the Cavinders picked up matching Range Rovers. But that’s just the beginning of the fun. After commenters suggested that Hanna’s then-boyfriend Carson Beck (yup, him), purchased her Range, she rebutted, noting her own substantial NIL earnings and turning “no pookie” into a viral hashtag for the strength of women’s sports. And then Hanna’s Range got boosted alongside Beck’s Lamborghini. And then the couple broke up.
Bijan Robinson, Texas football
Purchase: Bijan Mustardson (condiment company)
Cost: Unknown
Professional athletes have a long history of squandering their fortunes on record labels and nightclubs, to which former Texas (now Atlanta Falcons) running back Bijan Robinson said: “Hold the ketchup,” and started Bijan Mustardson, his own condiment company, in 2022. (Get it? His name rhymes with “Dijon”). But maybe he was on to something. Despite a questionable back story (“The only place [Bijan] hadn’t scored a touchdown was his taste buds.”), it appears to be a successful business, with distribution in grocery stores like Sprouts, its own sponsored athletes in Texas volleyball and women’s basketball and a bizarre and fun social media presence.
Shedeur Sanders, Colorado football
Purchase: Rolls-Royce Cullinan
Cost: $390,000
Sanders was known to regularly tool around Boulder in his custom Cullinan when he first arrived at Colorado in 2023. He’d come to the Buffaloes that year with his dad, aka Deion Sanders, aka Coach Prime, on a massive NIL valuation that eventually topped out at an estimated $6.5 million in his senior year. But the money was well spent for Colorado fans—together, the Sanderses brought the football program back to national prominence, and Shedeur repped the Buffs with pride, down to the black and gold trim on his Cullinan.
Flau’jae Johnson, LSU basketball
Purchase: Mercedes-Benz AMG G63
Cost: $180,000 (base model)
Johnson is a case study in how you do NIL the right way: all in. She raps, performs charitable acts (such as leveraging her relationship with Instagram to get her high school’s locker room remodeled), bad puns, and even has time to pick out all of the non-marshmellow pieces from her Lucky Charms, all while casually nutmegging defenders on fast breaks. So when she bought a G Wagon back in April 2024, it felt much deserved (she said so herself in the caption: “This What Hard Work Look Like. #ThankYouJesus”). And now she’s getting a bag from another car company.
Avery Johnson, Kansas State football
Purchase: “Mahomes” mattress
Cost: Est. $1800
Avery Johnson isn’t the most celebrated quarterback in the country, but he still banked a reported $1.6 million NIL portfolio that included a sponsorship by a local Manhattan, Kansas car dealership. He copped or was gifted/given favorable lease terms on a Mercedes through that deal, although the Benz looks even more hatchback-like than Carson Beck’s Lamborghini. Johnson also bought a Sleep Number mattress, the exact same model as Patrick Mahomes. “Easily the best thing I got,” Johnson said. “You spend a third of your day in bed. That’s what I needed to get better recovery and better sleep at night. It’s paid off so far. And I got it on sale.”
Travis Hunter, Colorado football
Purchase: House for mom
Cost: Est. $3-$5 million
After being selected second in the 2025 NFL Draft, Hunter signed a fully guaranteed $46.65 million rookie contract (including a $30.57 million signing bonus paid up front) with the Jacksonville Jaguars. But the 2024 Heisman Trophy winner was already paid—Hunter’s net worth was already estimated at $6 million through various NIL deals at Colorado, which was enough to buy his mom a 5-bed, 2.5-bath house in Savannah, Ga.. File this purchase under Outlandishly Awww.
Tommy Castellanos, Florida State football
Purchase: Teammates’ jewelry
Cost: Unknown
And we’ll call this one Outlandishly Dated. Last October, on the eve of their grudge match with state rival Miami, 18th ranked Florida State had seemed to regain their position among college football’s elite after a disastrous 2024 campaign. So, naturally, quarterback Tommy Castellanos, who’d transferred to Tallahassee on an estimated $800,000-$1 million NIL deal, gifted his offensive line FSU-themed jewelry courtesy of GLD, presumably as thanks for only allowing two sacks to that point in the season. FSU proceeded to then lose six of their next eight games and finish 13th in the ACC. First rule of Outlandish NIL purchases: No takebacks!
Behren Morton, Texas Tech football
Purchase: 150 acres of Texas hunting land
Cost: Est. $300,000-$600,000
This purchase qualifies as both sensible and outlandish. Texas Tech spent a reported $28 million on their overall roster this season, which seems like money well spent given the Red Raiders made the College Football Playoff quarterfinals. Morton, a fifth-year senior “only” raked in a little more than $1 million this season, but he used part of it to purchase a 150 acre plot of land in West Texas that he plans to rent out as a hunting lodge.
Kewan Lacy, Ole Miss football
Purchase: Teammates’ jewelry
Cost: Unknown
Typically, cars and jewelry are seen as unwise long-term financial purchases given their immediate depreciation. But maybe jewelry as a “Thank you” is just a down payment on the way to a bigger bag? After rushing for nearly 1,500 yards, Ole Miss’s Kewan Lacy gifted his offensive linemen iced out Ole Miss chains for the College Football Playoffs. It proved to be a sound investment for Lacy, who reportedly signed a $2 million NIL deal afterwards to return to Ole Miss for his senior season.
Paige Bueckers, UConn basketball
Purchase: Louis Vuitton bag
Cost: $2500
Bueckers is now known as a spokesperson for responsible spending, but she’s admitted to borrowing her mom’s credit card to pay for basics after blowing through her student stipend as a freshman during the pre-NIL era. But after securing her first NIL bag in 2021, Bueckers picked up a Louis Vuitton crossbody bag; she called it her “I made it” purchase. The No. 1 pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft paid it forward as well, gifting her teammates and coaches sneakers through a collab with StockX, treating her teammates to new iPhones through a partnership with Verizon, and even founding Paige’s Pantry, a free grocery store in her hometown.