Summary

  • The Texas One Fund signs major sponsor Nicholas Air, a private jet charter company based in Oxford, Mississippi.
  • The Texas NIL collective aims to support student-athletes by securing various NIL deals and sponsorships.
  • Nicholas Air previousl expanded its college athletic involvement by signing deals with Texas and Mississippi quarterbacks for personal jet use.

The University of Texas’s name, image, and likeness (NIL) collective has signed a major corporate sponsor. The university’s NIL collective, which is called Texas One Fund, supports Texas football and the rest of the University of Texas’s athletics. On Wednesday, May 22, the NIL collective officially signed Nicholas Air as its corporate sponsor. Nicholas Air is a major private jet charter company that is based in Oxford, Mississippi.

The official deal between Texas One Fund and Nicholas Air is one of the most notable sponsorships in college athletics and the NIL world in general. However, the exact terms of the deal between the two entities were not officially disclosed.

Three Nicholas Air Embraer Phenom 100 and Phenom 300 aircraft parked side by side on an airport apron.

Photo: Nicholas Air

The executive director of the Texas One Fund, Patrick “Wheels” Smith, spoke about the new sponsorship. Smith stated,

“Texas One Fund is excited to add Nicholas Air as yet another corporate sponsor in a growing list of outstanding businesses committed to supporting student-athletes at Texas.”

The NIL collective was originally founded in November 2022, and it combined several NIL collectives into one to consolidate NIL efforts at the University of Texas. The organization is set up as a nonprofit to support NIL opportunities for student-athletes at the University of Texas. The Texas One Fund works to sign various student-athletes to different NIL deals to help recruiting efforts and support the athletics department as a whole.

Previous college athletic involvement from Nicholas Air

Signing with the Texas One Fund was not the first step into college athletics by Nicholas Air. In February, earlier this year, Nicholas Air signed the University of Mississippi’s quarterback, Jaxson Dart, to an NIL deal. The Ole Miss quarterback is currently listed as the favorite to win the coveted Heisman Trophy, which is given to the best player in college football.

The NIL deal allows Dart to utilize Nicholas Air business jets for various reasons, including personal travel, traveling to training, or philanthropy efforts. This was the first NIL deal that involved a private jet charter company. With Nicholas Air being based in Oxford, Mississippi, where the University of Mississippi is located, it makes sense to sign a deal with the university’s quarterback.

Related

Private Jets For College Athletes: A Guide To Private Jets Offered As NIL Deals

Several collegiate athletes have recently inked NIL deals with private aviation companies.

However, in early April, Nicholas Air expanded its NIL portfolio. The charter company signed an NIL deal with the quarterback at the University of Texas, Quinn Ewers. This NIL deal is similar to Dart’s deal, allowing Ewers to utilize Nicholas Air private jets for personal use, training, or philanthropy. This NIL deal paved the way for Nicholas Air to become the official corporate sponsor of the NIL collective at the University of Texas, as previously mentioned.

Nicholas Air is a well-known private jet charter company, which also offers aircraft management, fractional ownership, and a jet card program, per Private Jet Card Comparisons. The company operates a fleet consisting of several private jets. This includes Pilatus PC-12s, Embraer Phenom 100s, Phenom 300s, Cessna Citation CJ3+s, Citation Latitudes, Bombardier Challenger 350s, and Gulfstream G600s.

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