How Brian Dukes Jr. is shaping his own NIL market at Cal Poly

This is a cross-published piece with Mustang News, more information can be found here.

When athletes commit to Cal Poly, they sign up for a mid-major university that takes pride in academic and athletic excellence and a safe, small town to live in for four to five years.

However, due to its distance to major cities and the university’s academic reputation, Cal Poly athletes do not have a large market to land Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) deals. Instead, they must be extra creative to generate these deals. 

Junior safety Brian Dukes Jr. found his method: podcasting. In the fall of 2024, he started the Dukes Up Podcast, streaming on Spotify, to promote his brand as not just a Cal Poly football player but a charismatic, passionate man with a good sense of fashion and a strong belief in faith. 

In July 2021, California started allowing collegiate athletes to make deals and sponsorships with businesses. However, university alumni and fans are not yet allowed to give money to athletes directly. 

All of Cal Poly’s athletes have reported a combined total of about $16,000 from 2021 to July 2024, according to CalMatters. However, it was noted that the university did not do a thorough job of informing and requiring students to submit their NIL deals to CalMatters.

Despite a limited market, Dukes hasn’t been discouraged from beginning an NIL path of his own. 

The heart of the podcast

Dukes stresses the importance of displaying collegiate athletes as more than just their sport and having multiple dimensions to their lives and character. 

“[Athletics] take a lot of time from us, but it’s important that we still are human and we still enjoy things outside of those aspects of life,” Dukes said.

When Dukes decided to dive into NIL, he knew he wanted to do something different. After reaching out to business professor Randy Rovegno, owner of Athlete Lab, they decided that a podcast best fit Dukes’ brand. 

Athlete Lab is both an independent NIL organization and a Cal Poly business class, in which students take on different roles to become their own agency for Cal Poly athletes. Other Cal Poly athletes, such as women’s basketball player Annika Shah, have utilized this class and worked with fellow students to create their brands. 

Just a few months after NIL was legalized in California, Rovegno created Athlete Lab.

Rovegno has worked in marketing with companies such as ESPN and Fox but prefers running Athlete Lab because he admires the work that both students and athletes put into the projects, which he believes is the “spirit of the NIL program.”

“What I like with Cal Poly is that it’s not instantly recognizable,” Rovegno said. “We have to be creative. We have to come up with platforms for them to excel on because no one’s just gonna come give Brian a million dollars.”

In the Dukes Up Podcast, Dukes brings on fellow Cal Poly athletes, giving listeners a glance into their lives and passions outside of athletics as well as academic pursuits.

In episode three, featuring redshirt senior receiver Giancarlo Woods, the two discussed their shoe collections and Woods’ backstory on why he chose the forestry and fire science major at Cal Poly. 

 Although Dukes now feels comfortable as a podcast host, it didn’t click right away. 

“In my first episode, I was terrified,” Dukes said.  “I had some notes put down and I just was reading strictly off the notes. I was really scared to go off-script. I wasn’t really thinking. It was just read, read and try to get as much content as possible.

With four episodes now available to listen to, Dukes has only gotten more comfortable behind the microphone, establishing a more conversational flow with his guests. This led to him hosting his first major event for the brand. 

Live episode at Benny’s Pizza

On March 12, the Dukes Up Podcast collaborated with local restaurant Benny’s Pizza and Social Club, a fast-casual restaurant, to hold a live podcast episode with multiple Cal Poly athletes participating as guest hosts. 

Cal Poly athletes Elijah Ponder, Ethan Marmie, Abbey Reinard and Sydney Sherman all participated in the live podcast. The event also included a raffle and free pizza for all attendees. 

“It was a little different, but it was awesome, definitely really good practice to work on being able to talk in front of people,” Dukes said. 

Like the rest of the episodes in the podcast, the athletes talked about their lives both inside and outside of athletics, only this time, they recorded in a full restaurant with about 70 people. 

Sherman, part of the 2023 Cal Poly stunt team that won the College Stunt National Title, agreed to be a guest host after Dukes’ team reached out. 

“It was cool to mix different sports and see what different athletes are like and to see other people’s perspective on campus,” Sherman said.

Immediately after finishing the live podcast at Benny’s Pizza, Dukes spoke to Rovegno about more promotional ideas. 

Rovegno admires Dukes’s dedication to the project, as it is one of few Cal Poly athlete brands to run for multiple academic quarters. 

“I’ve worked with athletes that are like, ‘Okay, give me my gift cards. Give me my check. I’m out,’” Rovegno said. “But Dukes has been pushing me to keep this going. So I love all his brands. He’s passionate, he’s grounded, he’s got fortitude.”

Mutual benefit for students and athletes

Nina Toracca, a third-year business student and marketing manager for Dukes Up, appreciates the valuable experience of taking the class that reflects Cal Poly’s “Learn By Doing” mantra.

Although this event acted as a final project for the quarter, Dukes will continue his partnership with Athlete Lab and coordinate with future students of Rovegno’s class in the spring quarter to continue his branding. 

After gaining valuable experience this quarter, Toracca will also continue to help Dukes and be part of his team outside of class. 

“I enjoyed working with a real athlete and learning about NIL deals because I didn’t really understand them much before,” Toracca said. “There’s a whole new market for college athletes and I’m super excited to learn more about it next quarter and continue working with Brian.”