2022 LSU baseball commit Mikey Romero signs NIL deal
We live in a new world of collegiate athletics where words like name, image and likeness are commonly used phrases now.
But, in the state of California, NIL is now applicable for high school students and a future LSU Baseball player jumped at the advantage.
Mikey Romero, a 6-1, 175-pound infielder out of California, who is a 2022 LSU baseball commit, recently announced on his personal instagram page that he had signed an NIL deal with the chewing gum company Big League Chew.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“How it all started was that there is a picture of me at the Perfect Game All-American Classic fielding a ground ball and blowing a bubble,” he said. “Turns out that was a Big League Chew gum and the company reached out to me.
“I was a little hesitant because I didn’t know all the rules. After looking into it, you can sign deals while still in high school in California. I am looking forward to working with Big League Chew and couldn’t be more excited.”
One of the more high-profiled recruits of the 2022 LSU class, Romero is also well known on social media with 19,900 followers on Instagram and over 2,600 followers on Twitter. The Romero family is also well known as Mikey is the little brother of a pair of former All-American softball players in Sierra Romero of Michigan and Sydney Romero of Oklahoma.
“It’s awesome to be able to work with a company like Big League Chew,” Romero said. “I grew up chewing this gum. To think I get to partner with them now is a blessing. I’m excited to see what we can turn this into.”
Previewing LSU’s start into the fall baseball season on Thursday afternoon, Romero’s future coach Jay Johnson talked about the positive effects of NIL deals for the sport of college baseball.
“I think it is a new time and a very positive thing happening right now,” Johnson said. “The players that come to play for us at LSU ultimately want to be Major League Baseball players. The sell for them to come to college is for them to create value for themselves by what they do in college. There is some delayed gratification in financial factors if they choose to come to college.
“My hope is that these future players then don’t have to feel that they have to go take that signing bonus straight out of high school. By doing that and maybe having some flexibility to earn some money while they are in college with NIL, where we have a great platform at LSU, it may steer some of those players towards college. It’s a great thing for LSU and LSU baseball.”