The Atlanta Braves signed Georgia Bulldogs gymnast Rachel Baumann and Georgia Tech quarterback Jordan Yates to name, image and likeness (NIL) deals becoming the first Major League Baseball team to do so.
Per a news release via Braves senior director of marketing and innovation, Greg Mize:
"We are excited to welcome Rachel and Jordan to the Braves family. As soon as the new NIL guidelines were set last month, we knew there was an opportunity to highlight the convergence of Braves Country and strong local athletes. For our first partnerships, we wanted to focus on schools in our backyard, and the hope is the program will continue to expand to include student-athletes from throughout Braves Country."
The Braves took to Instagram asking for student-athletes--who played for a school around the area, were engaged in social media and were also fans of the team--to message them if they were interested in working with the team. They ended up with about 500 messages.
Both Baumann and Yates will get a $500 stipend and commission on tickets and merchandise sold through their social media, per the AJC.