Semi OT: Adrien Nunez Making Money On TikTok After NIL

Submitted by Mercury Hayes on October 8th, 2021 at 4:35 PM

Which Michigan athlete may be the most valuable to advertisers? It may not be who you think. Adrien Nunez has amassed more than 2.7 million followers on TikTok - that's nearly 3x as many followers as the Detroit Lions - a team that is very active on the platform.

Today, Nunez is featured on TikTok's discover tab under the trending/sponsored hashtag #studentsectionsauce which is sponsored by Taco Bell. You can watch the video here: https://www.tiktok.com/@adrien_nunez/video/7016496135258918150?lang=en&is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1

Nunez has other videos featuring products like Celsius.

You may be wondering... how does Adrien Nunez have 2.7 million followers, while the official U-M football account @UmichFootball only has 32k followers? He posts a lot of content alongside someone who appears to be his girlfriend who has 3.2 million followers. They participate in dance challenges and other trends racking up millions of views and engagements.

Nunez' Taco Bell video now has more than 5 million views, and his organic content (no paid support from advertisers) has often times received as many as 6 million views, reaching hundreds of thousands of likes and hundreds of comments (in really is remarkable).

I know many of you may scoff at the idea of TikTok because "ITS FOR THE KIDS!" but, I think it is cool that a Michigan athlete has such a strong following and is leveraging that to make money. These deals for someone with millions of followers can fetch anywhere from $5k to $20k or more depending on the partnership agreement. Prior to NIL, this would not be possible. And now Adrien is using his tech skills and business skills to make $$$$.  Good for him!

 

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Indy Pete - Go Blue

October 8th, 2021 at 4:59 PM ^

It is a wonder that we have a scholarship bball player on a top 5 team whose most significant  contribution to the program is TikTok notoriety. Nonetheless, hats off to Nunez for capitalizing on his fame per the new rules. 

Joined: 01/23/2018

MGoPoints: 157297

naters113

October 8th, 2021 at 5:22 PM ^

When I showed my 12 year old daughter a picture of the UM basketball team the only player she recognized was Nuñez.  “Hey!  I follow that guy on Tik Tok!”  Palm meet face, but at least it may be the bridge to watching some more UM bball games with her this winter.  
 

Nuñez will do well in marketing in the future.  

Joined: 06/09/2010

MGoPoints: 860

treetown

October 8th, 2021 at 6:11 PM ^

This is probably only the beginning and it is hard to predict where this will go. There will probably be bubbles and surges and collapses. The Athletic Department and UM should provide some guidance and note who is doing what - not censorship but so as not to be blindsided is something goes wrong.

Joined: 11/10/2010

MGoPoints: 6339

Jonesy

October 9th, 2021 at 12:48 AM ^

I started watching his tiktoks after an unverified voracity mentioned his tiktok stardom. I started with the fun basketball behind the scenes stuff and then stayed for the hot gf whos more popular than him and their cute relationship.

Joined: 03/14/2012

MGoPoints: 10621

continentalsmob

December 22nd, 2021 at 9:12 AM ^

Hmm I am not surprised. It is not that difficult to be famous on Tiktok if you are famous in general. So Nunez will never have problems there, I guess. But what about ordinary users? Those who come there being absolute nobody? I have a feeling that they must do all possible and imposstible to have their [SPAM LINK DELETED] and get their celebrity check as quickly as they can. I guess this mark will make the audience view the content from a totally different angle!

Joined: 12/22/2021

MGoPoints: 3