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Cavinder Twins, Gable Steveson Star in Champs Sports x Eastbay Holiday Campaign

Last Updated: December 2, 2021
The college superstars are ramping up their NIL partnership with the two apparel brands just in time for December.

Champs Sports and Eastbay announced that their 2021 “We Know Game” holiday campaign will be fronted by Olympic gold medal-winning wrestler Gable Steveson of the University of Minnesota and star Fresno State basketball players (and twin sisters) Haley and Hanna Cavinder.

The two brands, now united under the Foot Locker banner, are celebrating modern young athletes as they navigate their careers in this new name, image, and likeness era in college sports while highlighting the best footwear, apparel, and accessories of the holiday season.

After winning freestyle wrestling gold in Tokyo in dramatic fashion back in August, the 21-year-old Golden Gopher signed an NIL deal with WWE — the first ever of its kind — to join the roster of its Raw brand.

Haley and Hanna, 20, star for Fresno State and boast millions of social media followers across TikTok and Instagram. Haley was the 2021 Mountain West Player of the Year, while Hanna made the All-Mountain West Team for the second straight season. When NIL became legal on July 1, the twins were among the first to sign deals, partnering with Boost Mobile, and Six Star Pro Nutrition.

They even got their own billboard in Times Square celebrating the former.

“Champs Sports and Eastbay have had a long legacy of supporting young athletes,” said Guy Harkless, Champs Sports and Eastbay’s vice president and general manager. “This year’s holiday campaign celebrates the young, modern athlete as they navigate their careers in the wake of the new NIL rules. Our brand mission and mantra is geared around the lens of the athlete, and it’s important to empower their unique voices and support them on their journey, as we will continue to do so for years to come.”

The campaign will also star nine-year-old football star Rudolph “Blaze” Ingram, a Florida-based athlete and social media star dubbed “the fastest kid on the planet.”

Last month, Eastbay and Champs Sports partnered with LeBron James’ and Maverick Carter’s Uninterrupted network on a “More Than An Athlete” apparel line and a “More Than An Athlete Hotline: Varsity Edition” nine-episode video series. The first episode focused on NIL, aligning well with the company’s robust holiday campaign.

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Shlomo Sprung

Shlomo Sprung is a Senior Staff Writer at Boardroom. He has more than a decade of experience in journalism, with past work appearing in Forbes, MLB.com, Awful Announcing, and The Sporting News. He graduated from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 2011, and his Twitter and Spotify addictions are well under control. Just ask him.