I think Jeff Sims will get something comparable or more by the time he’s a Senior. Especially if/when we win and he gets the pre-season accolades. Once he gets those braces off and can put that big grin out there.
Aside from the concerns that people have about boosters simply paying players for recruiting purposes, there are some athletes that are simply entertaining. I think TaQuon Marshall would have done well with NIL. He had an ad-guy kind of quality and expressed a desire to be in broadcasting.
From interviews, my impression of Yates is that he is well spoken and energetic. He seems like the kind of guy who would could go on Instagram, invite people to go to the Braves game on such and such a day, and have a decent number of people respond to that. Yates is getting something out of it. If you look at how the Braves handled it, they are getting far more out of it than they are paying for. They had a contest with over 500 entries, which gained publicity. They paid each of two winners $500, which means the entire contest cost them $1,000. The winners also get freebies at Braves games, which don't cost the Braves anything. They also get affiliate commissions, which the Braves probably already have set up with a lot of websites and such. It appears to be good for both parties. Yates is going to earn money, and I don't see how the Braves are not getting more value out of it than they are paying for it.
From interviews, Sims appears to be a very personable guy, but a little reserved at the moment. I don't think he would need pre-season accolades to be able to get some marketing deals. If he gets more comfortable being in the spotlight and can influence people, he should have plenty of opportunities.