We’re smack in the middle of the Sweet 16 round in March Madness. Tonight, I will be rooting for the Jersey City, NJ-based Cinderella team, Saint Peter’s University, to win and make to the next round—and maybe, just maybe, the Final Four in New Orleans. This unknown team with a peacock as its mascot has caught the attention of sports fans across the country. I wonder if that includes the people at Dollar Shave Club?

The men’s grooming brand that’s part of Unilever signed a NIL (name, image and likeness) deal with a rather high-profile college player Drew Timme of Gonzaga, naming him the “World's First Chinfluencer.” Timme, who has sported a beard and mustache, and has more than 15k followers on Twitter and more than 88.4k on Instagram.

Even his mustache is on Twitter— although Timme is not affiliated with that handle, The Drew Manchu (@DrewTimmeStache.)

Unfortunately, the No. 1 seed Zags fell to Arkansas last night, and Timme and his facial hair are out of the tournament.

Did Dollar Shave miss out on unsung ‘stached March Madness hero Doug Edert of Saint Peter’s? Maybe. But no worries for Edert; he just inked a deal with Buffalo Wild Wings.

It is a brave new world for marketers and college players alike as changes in college athletics rules that went into effect in June 2021 opened the door so players can now monetize their name, image and likeness.

In the world of hoops, several college athletes have deals with personal care-related marketers — like Stanford University’s Cameron Brink (Great Clips), as well as Andrew Jones, Cam Mack, Nimari Burnett and Saquan Singleton, who are part of Degree deodorant’s Breaking Limits Team. Unilever quickly unveiled the “team” a month after the new policy was enacted by NCAA.

It is more than just superstar starters who sign NIL deals with marketers. There’s a University of Michigan guard who averages just a few minutes per game, but he has a huge social media presence of 3 million followers on TikTok–and deals with Coach and other brands.

And there are players in some more obscure sports and smaller programs that will not make the national stage.

NIL has become big business—for athletes and brands. In fact, there’s even a summit planned for mid-June. It is described as an “immersive multi-day professional development experience and gathering place” for college sports’ most important stakeholders to “share cutting-edge ideas, discover new interests and learn how to maximize NIL opportunities to build their brands and amplify their voices.”

According to the event website, celebrity influencers will speak, so will professional athletes turned business moguls and “professionals who want to shape the future of college athletics.”

There are many companies in the NIL mix at different levels and from different product categories.

3 Kings Grooming, a company founded in 2019 that best known for stylish hair combs and pics, signed Jackson State University’s Antwan Owens at stroke of midnight on June 30, 2021 when the new NIL rule took effect.

Starface, a skincare brand that makes pimple patches, recently signed a deal with NCAA football player Kayvon Thibodeaux of Oregon.

And then there’s Barstool sports, which has more than 7400 NIL sponsorship deals, according to one industry tracking site.

While it looks like NIL deals are most popular among fast food chains and apparel companies, we wonder how many other brands from across beauty, grooming and personal care, will look to this new crop of influencers and give it, dare we say, the old college try.