NCAA Pays To Play – NIL Floodgates Are Open

As recently as 2020, NCAA athletes were forbidden to have their likenesses used in advertising, video games, clothing, etc. Boosters of Colleges and Universities (public and private) were forbidden to offer money to collegiate athletes.  These athletes were not even allowed to accept meals or gifts from boosters. But thanks to the NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) rights put forth by the NCAA, collegiate athletes are quickly becoming millionaires. Clothing lines, television appearances, fast food commercials, etc. are all now able to use the NIL statute to make the almighty dollar… and lots of them.

Olivia Dunne, Gymnast from LSU, is worth over $7 million from her endorsement and modeling deals. Fellow Tigers Basketball players Angel Reese and Flau’jae Johnson are each worth over $1.5 million themselves. The only collegiate athlete making more than Olivia Dunne is USC Basketballer, Bronny James. Another NCAA athlete, Arch Manning, nephew to Peyton and Eli, son to Cooper, and grandson to Archie Manning, is the highest paid collegiate Football player, and he hasn’t even seen a down yet on the football field (he is sitting 3^rd string as a red shirt freshman).

With these college “kids” making more money than this journalist (and I use that term lightly) will ever see, there is one NCAA athlete out there sweating his rocks off and using his brain more than most of us ever will. His name is Caleb Kelly. And Caleb is the best Chessboxer in the World at an NCAA level.

You read that right. “CHESSBOXING.” The sport dates back to 1973 and is a hybrid combining Chess and Boxing. Chessboxers play alternating rounds of Blitz Chess and Boxing until one wins by checkmate or by knockout. It is also possible to win by boxing decision if there is a draw in the chess round.

Kelly attends Oak Willis Hammerstein Village University in Waupaca, Wisconsin. He is undefeated. 54 wins and zero defeats. Granted the only other NCAA school in the country that also has a Chessboxing team is Oak Willis Hammerstein Village University – Northeast Campus in Steven’s Point, Wisconsin.

Kelly has been trying very hard to break into the same realm of Olivia Dunne and Arch Manning so he can capitalize on his prowess in Chessboxing to start his own financial empire. To monetize his skills, he is steadily working on building a social media following on TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook.

“Olivia Dunne has 7.7 million followers on TikTok. And 4.3 million on Instagram,” Kelly tells us. “Angel Reese has 2.5 million on TikTok and 2.3 million on Instagram.” Kelly currently has 153 TikTok followers and 19 on Instagram (although he mainly uses Instagram to show off his dog, Bobby Fischer). “I am steadily building my audience. I should be at their level soon.” Kelly continues, “Chessboxing is the sport of the future. Everyone knows Tihomir Dovramadjiev and Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. These are household names. There is no reason that I will not reach their heights once I am on the professional circuit. I have one year left before I graduate, and 2-years left of eligibility.

By this time in the next two years, I will be playing in tournaments for 3, 4, even 5 hundred dollars. Dovramadjiev played until he was 72 years old and probably made over 50-thousand dollars in his career. How far can I take this? Who knows? I see endorsements in my future for things like folding chairs, card tables, pencils (equipment used in Chessboxing) … you name it. Sky’s the limit. And why wait? Why can’t I get my piece of the pie now? With my TikTok account taking off I should start to see interest from sponsors soon. Think about it. There are over 7.8 billion people in the world. Olivia Dunne has 7.7 million followers on TikTok. In the grand scheme of things, based on the population of the world, 7.7 million is really not so much larger than 153 (Kelly’s number of TikTok followers). It’s only a matter of time.”

MPL is very happy to report that at the time of this published article, Kelly has received his first endorsement deal from Merrimack Pizza in Steven’s Point, Wisconsin. He even has a line in the commercial:

“Merrimack Pizza is a knockout for me… especially when I checkmate.”

Good luck, Caleb. The world will be watching you score knockouts and checkmates. Or at least the good folks from Waupaca and Steven’s Point, Wisconsin will be.