Maddie Johnson’s NIL Deal a First for Black Female Lacrosse Players

Just four years ago, Brandon Wimbush held one of the most prestigious positions in all of sports: starting quarterback at the University of Notre Dame. Playing on NBC every Saturday can certainly leave a lasting impression, but Wimbush’s involvement and impact on the college sports landscape did not end when he hung up his shiny gold helmet.

Along with his Notre Dame classmate, Ayden Syal, Wimbush co-founded MOGL, a company that empowers businesses and brands to connect to athletes for marketing opportunities in a safe, secure, and compliant way. The MOGL platform is completely free to join and democratizes access to collegiate athletes for businesses and brands looking to build awareness for their products and services in the new era of NIL. MOGL also provides financial literacy and brand advisory resources to athletes and their families free of charge. 

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However, MOGL’s most recent work carries significance that goes beyond just the endorsement or the dollars in the pocket. MOGL provided Q30 innovations the platform to connect with Maddie Johnson of the Detroit Mercy women’s lacrosse team for a deal to promote their new Q Collar product.

Maddie Johnson’s NIL deal with Q30 Innovations

Q30 Innovations is a research and development company dedicated to developing innovative products intended to reduce traumatic brain injury as a result of concussive forces to participants in athletic, battle, or work environments. Its technology could protect athletes and soldiers today and for their futures.

In order to help spread the message about their Q Collar product, a non-invasive device worn around the neck and designed to protect athletes’ head and neck areas as they compete, they were connected through MOGL to Detroit Mercy Lacrosse’s Maddie Johnson to enact the first NIL deal for a black female lacrosse player. 

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Because female lacrosse players are at a higher risk of concussion from a stick or ball impact than their male counterparts, Johnson being an advocate for protective gear makes perfect sense. Johnson is a goalkeeper for the Titans who has received All-MAC Team honors over her career. She comes from an athletic family as her father, Bobby Johnson, is the offensive line coach for the Buffalo Bills.

“We are extremely excited about this partnership as it conveys our ability to provide opportunities for all athletes,” said Wimbush. 

Wimbush’s colleague Ayden Syal added, “the MOGL platform is empowering the current generation of gender and racial minority collegiate athletes in non-revenue generating sports. We are extremely excited to be able to empower athletes in this new era and look forward to continuing to make an impact in the lives of others.”

NIL is a net positive

Given all the recent news around NIL and its “pitfalls” stemming from football’s national signing day in terms of recruiting, this deal is a great reminder of why NIL is still a tremendously net positive thing for college sports. Are schools potentially exploiting NIL to lure in some of the best recruits in the country? Probably.

But companies like MOGL connecting Maddie Johnson with a product to allow her to not only become the first black woman collegiate lacrosse player to complete an NIL deal, but also spread the message to help prevent such a traumatic injury like a concussion is so much more meaningful. In mainstream news, you may see more of the negative press associated with NIL. But in many cases, prominent media coverage won’t bring these great stories to the forefront.

Brandon Wimbush has always possessed an entrepreneurial mindset, so what he’s doing in the industry today should come as no surprise to those who followed him in college. But nonetheless, what he and Ayden Syal are doing has allowed student athletes to not only make money, but break barriers along the way. Expect MOGL to continue to be a force in the NIL space and who knows, we might see more first-of-their-kind partnerships as well.