Image: LSU's Angel Reese points to her ring finger in front of Iowa's Caitlin Clark during the NCAA Women's Final Four championship basketball game April 2, 2023, in Dallas. LSU won 102-85 to win the championship. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez) Merchandise: https://theangelreese.com/
The value of Angel Reese‘s name, image, and likeness or NIL has soared to $1.3 million after the Louisiana State University women’s basketball player helped lead her team to a national championship victory and an iconic image went viral of her mocking the Iowa player of the year.
Reese has experienced a social-media explosion and her Instagram following skyrocketed to 1.6 million since LSU won the title on April 2 in Dallas. She now has more than 1 million TikTok followers and the 20-year-old sophomore has launched a range of merchandise through her official website.
She has NIL deals as part of the NCAA approved NIL policy, and deals with brands such as Calvin Klein, Bose and Coach.
Some saw Reese’s John Cena-inspired “You can’t see me” celebration as controversial and “disrespectful” when Reese pointed to her ring finger in front of University of Iowa Hawkeyes star Caitlin Clark during the national championship final.
Others saw it as hilarious, an opportunity, and a springboard for success. Reese has leveraged the attention and title into a merchandise partnership.
After the game, Reese told reporters, “All year, I was critiqued for who I was. I don’t fit the narrative. I don’t fit the box that y’all want me to be in. I’m too hood. I’m too ghetto. Y’all told me that all year. When other people do it, and y’all don’t say nothing.
“So this is for the girls that look like me. For those that want to speak up for what they believe in. It’s unapologetically you. And that’s what I [did] before tonight. It was bigger than me tonight. And Twitter is going to go into a rage every time.”
Reese won the NCAA tournament’s Most Outstanding Player Award.
National sports champions have traditionally been invited to the White House. The losers stay home. Reese got more attention when First Lady Jill Biden invited both the winning and losing teams to the White House, causing major backlash. Biden later disinvited Iowa.
Reese and Flau’jae Johnson, who together led the LSU Tigers all season, have partnered with Campus Ink to release limited edition replica jerseys for both, and the players are set to make between $8 and $15 for each jersey sold, according to On3 NIL, The Spun reported.
The jerseys will retail for $89.99 in sizes from youth small to a 3XL for adults. They are the latest NIL deals for Reese and Johnson. They recently signed deals with fast food restaurant Raising Cane’s, The Spun reported.
Reese’s performance is more than enough to make her one of the biggest names in women’s basketball, Joseph Zucker wrote for the Bleacher Report. “Her charisma and authenticity make her a marketing team’s dream. She shouldn’t have any trouble collecting endorsements over the remainder of her run at LSU and beyond that when she makes the jump to the pros.”
The 6-foot-3-inch guard could potentially earn $2,974 per sponsored post, and the self-described “Bayou Barbie” has upped her promotion of the merchandise on sale from her website, Newsweek reported.
Reese told The Daily Advertiser, “Everybody in Baton Rouge calls me the Bayou Barbie. My nails say ‘Bayou Barbie’ on them. So yeah, that’s me. I got a trademark, so… I’m Bayou Barbie.”
