Name, Image, Likeness. Three little words that changed collegiate athletics in the summer of 2021. See just how NIL has affected LSU’s star student-athletes in The Money Game, a new Prime Video series premiering today on the streaming service.
The six-part documentary takes viewers into the lives of Olivia Dunne, Angel Reese, Flau’jae Johnson, Jayden Daniels, Trace Young and Alia Armstrong as they navigate NIL deals and learn about this new form of revenue while trying to maintain their athletic and academic performances and social lives. The Money Game aims to shed light on exactly what NIL is and how it impacts student-athletes, their families and their careers.
Director Drea Cooper says the decision to focus on LSU and its athletes for this series was a no-brainer considering how quickly the university embraced NIL after the historic policy change.
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“(NIL) is an incredible opportunity,” Cooper says. “It really is a profound moment in college sports that young college athletes can really make money—and in some cases, life-changing money—and change the entire trajectory of their family. But it comes at a cost. It’s a lot of work, and I think that’s what a lot of the athletes are struggling with is how to balance it all.”
Back in March, 225 caught up with Dunne while she filmed for The Money Game in Baton Rouge. She shared how NIL has been a true balancing act in her career and and that she hopes that comes to light in the series.
“I hope people just see how I make it all work because a lot of it was time management and trying to find a balance at all, which is the hardest thing,” she says. “Hopefully, people can learn that from me and other student-athletes. We have people that are ahead of the game here at LSU and people that are the best at NIL are here at LSU.”
Cooper says the series showcases LSU’s biggest NIL earners while also showing the struggles and strides of NIL underdog athletes who compete in non-revenue-generating sports. Though these athletes may seem untouchable, The Money Game provides a new look at each player allowing the viewer to get up close and personal with LSU Athletics.
The series also focuses on the different opportunities and challenges that men and women athletes face with NIL. Cooper says The Money Game will show how NIL can provide more opportunities for athletes who don’t have multimillion-dollar contracts in the pro leagues waiting for them when they graduate.
“My big question during the production of the show was really wrestling with this idea of the love of the game versus the money game,” Cooper says. “Can the two co-exist? What you see is that they can, but it’s going to be different for each athlete.”
The episodes take place during the 2023-2024 school year at LSU and follow the athletes on and off the court, field and mat. Expect to see big moments like Daniels’ concussion at the LSU vs. Alabama game and LSU Women’s Basketball’s post-championship season.
All six episodes are meant to be watched together. Cooper says all the athletes and their stories are interwoven across the six parts of the series. Along with the student-athletes, Cooper reveals that other big names with LSU ties make cameos in the series, like Shaquille O’Neal, who also served as a producer for the project.
“There’s cliffhangers and there’s dramatic moments,” Cooper says. “I mean, it was an incredible season for many of these athletes. They all had the bar set super high.”
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Cooper says he hopes viewers get different things out of the series while gaining a new perspective on NIL and how it affects these average students who happen to also be above-average athletes.
“I’m trying to show the complexity of a situation and of people’s lives, which are often complicated,” he says. “I’m hoping that folks have different takeaways, depending on who you are and what you bring to the show yourself. You may be somebody who’s like, ‘NIL is just a bunch of bull, and it’s going to ruin college athletics.’ By episode six, I think you’ll see, like, ‘Wait a second, that’s not totally true. That’s not the case.’”
All six episodes of “The Money Game” are now streaming on Prime Video. The series was produced by produced by Campfire Studios, Axios Entertainment, and Shaquille O’Neal’s Jersey Legends, a division of Authentic Studios. Tune in here.