Updated: Sep. 17, 2021, 4:04 p.m. | Published: Sep. 17, 2021, 3:01 p.m.
By Donna Ditota | dditota@syracuse.com
Read the full article here.
Syracuse, N.Y. — It’s apple season here in Central New York. And you know what that means for Syracuse University’s most visible Name, Image and Likeness personality.
Buddy Boeheim is promoting the biggest, grandest orchard in the region.
He’s shooting apples into barrels, wearing flannel shirts and rubber Wellies, attempting to drive a tractor and pretty much exhibiting extreme goofiness as Beak & Skiff president Eddie Brennan and its chief marketing officer Marianne Brennan (they’re married) express skepticism about whether he’s up to the task of being an apple farmer.
The videos are circulating on Beak & Skiff’s social media channels. Boeheim said he had “too much fun doing this,” on Instagram.
Boeheim, Syracuse’s senior basketball guard, is everywhere these days. He’s signing autographs at the mall. He’s appearing in cereal commercials. He’s endorsing a sports nutrition brand.
Interest in all these deals is twofold: One, the businesses Boeheim has chosen to align himself with are local. He said earlier this summer, when Name, Image and Likeness was enacted, that he preferred to seek his NIL opportunities with local brands.
And two, Boeheim is embarking on commercial campaigns that six months ago would have been unimaginable at Syracuse, a school located in a state that had only just begun to explore what NIL might mean. On July 1, though, athletes in all Division I sports (except for international students) were allowed to earn money off NIL.