Name Image Likeness

The Key to Iowa State's Success... is Bacon?

The Iowa Pork Producers' "Purchase Moore Hamann Bacon" campaign is back for year two, and with it comes historic success form the Iowa State football team

Noah Henderson

Episode 7 – Rhodes / Orange
Episode 7 – Rhodes / Orange / Iowa Pork Producers Association
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For the first time in eighty-six years the Iowa State Cyclones have started the football season with a 6–0 record. To put it into perspective, the last time an Iowa State team started a year with six wins jazz was still a taboo genre of music in the United States. While many may say that the success of this 2024 team is due to veteran leadership, the development of quarterback Rocco Becht, and the continued success of the receiving corps, one element cannot be understated… bacon.

Throughout the 2024 season bacon has been at the forefront of the Iowa State football team, and no, I do not mean redshirt junior linebacker Caleb Bacon, well not fully at least. Last year Iowa Pork Producers signed four athletes from the football team Myles Purchase, Tyler Moore, Tommy Hamann, and Caleb Bacon to launch their Purchase Moore Hamann Bacon initiative. The campaign quickly went viral and was lauded by Sports Business Journal as the best NIL deal of 2023. This year, the Iowa Pork Producers’ campaign has returned and along with it many more deals with Cyclone student athletes.

The new season of the Purchase Moore Hamann Bacon seeks to find a replacement for Tommy Hamann who appeared to step away from the campaign. Over the last weeks, several football players have tried showing why their last name would fit seamlessly into the new version of the campaign in a YouTube series – the video series included a guest cameo from four athletes on the Iowa State women’s basketball team.

Beyond the NIL compensation student-athletes received from Iowa Pork Producers, the company is donating $35,000 worth of pork to food banks and pantries across Iowa in the names of the nineteen partnered athletes. The promotion is perfect. A bit goofy, surrounded by a successful team, and rooted in philanthropy. It seems that Iowa Pork Producers is a contender to repeat as best NIL deal in 2024.

As Iowa State looks to continue their historic season, it is important to remember the role that bacon has played in their success. While likely not as substantial as the financial compensation given to players through the NIL collective, partnerships with local industry are valuable in providing NIL resources to athletes, building a culture, and ingraining athletes within the community. Feeling like a star matters, and for these athletes, partnering with Iowa Pork Producers has put them on the map in Ames, in Iowa, and across the country.

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Noah Henderson
NOAH HENDERSON

Professor Noah Henderson teaches in the sport management department at Loyola University Chicago. Outside the classroom, he advises companies, schools, and collectives on Name, Image, and Likeness best practices. His academic research focuses on the intersection of law, economics, and social consequences regarding college athletics, NIL, and sports gambling. Before teaching, Prof. Henderson was part of a team that amended Illinois NIL legislation and managed NIL collectives at the nation’s most prominent athletic institutions while working for industry leader Student Athlete NIL. He holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Illinois College of Law in Urbana-Champaign and a Bachelor of Economics from Saint Joseph’s University, where he was a four-year letter winner on the golf team. Prof. Henderson is a native of San Diego, California, and a former golf CIF state champion with Torrey Pines High School. Outside of athletics, he enjoys playing guitar, hanging out with dogs, and eating California burritos. You can follow him on Twitter: @NoahImgLikeness. 

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