Flau’jae Johnson Joins Unrivaled Basketball League With NIL Deal

Louisiana State University’s women’s basketball player Flau’jae Johnson has recently announced that she is now an ambassador for the upcoming women’s professional basketball league, Unrivaled.

After signing an NIL (Name, image, and likeness) deal with the burgeoning sports league, Johnson is the second college player to ink a contract with Unrivaled. The league signed Paige Bueckers, who plays for the University of Connecticut (UConn), in August. Johnson joins her former teammate, Angel Reese, who signed with the league earlier this year. The college junior posted about joining the league on her social media platform.

“The Future is Unrivaled. Excited to join the Unrivaled team as an NIL Ambassador 4⃣.”

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Big 4⃣ (@flaujae)

Johnson’s NIL deal includes equity in Unrivaled, ensuring possibly more financial success outside of her athletic skills.

She spoke to Fox News about what the deal means to her and her future.

“I think the equity is the most important part, just being able to be invested in something like that,” Johnson said. “And for me, being able to leverage my brand and to create business opportunities. That’s really what this NIL space is all about. When you’re in NIL, you literally have this short window where everybody wants to have you a part [of something], so to really leverage that into something that’s going to last for a long time. It’s going to be in my business portfolio and gain capital in the future, that’s a really big deal.”

Unrivaled is a new women’s basketball league started by Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier and New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart last year in July. The league is slated to begin on Jan. 17, 2025. It’s a 3-on-3 format that already pays players higher salaries than the WNBA. The ladies started the league to allow players to make money during the offseason playing basketball without having to go overseas to do so.

“Leagues like this, women don’t have to go overseas anymore,” Johnson told Fox News. “Now, they could stay home, be playing in Miami where the sky is beautiful and collect a check. I think it’s so important what they’re doing -– they’re really changing the game. Being somebody that’s going to be in the WNBA soon, having another option, this is big.”