Jordan Travis Feud with ‘The Tiger King’ Over NIL Deal

Jordan Travis is stirring the pot in terms of what is acceptable for Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals. 

The Florida State QB is celebrating recent wins against Clemson and LSU through NIL. Travis has released apparel featuring him and the other teams’ mascots, which both happen to be Tigers.

A well-thought-out product

The t-shirts depict a cartoon Travis positioned as a king, sitting on a throne and wearing a crown. Below him are two tigers, one with purple and orange details (Clemson’s colors). The other is said to be LSU’s live mascot, Mike the Tiger.

Fans can purchase the “College King 2.0” shirt in maroon, gray, or black, from The Official Store of Jordan Travis. Each shirt is priced at $31.24, a cost that happens to match the final score of FSU’s game against Clemson. 

The X post also shares information about proceeds, sharing that half of all profits will go to FSU’s offensive line.

Some might say that the QB creating a shirt is bragging and that his performance wasn’t good enough to be making money off of the win. On3 noted that during Travis’ postgame comments, he admitted that, “he missed too many throws early when his receivers had one-on-one matchups.” 

The quarterback is still getting over a shoulder injury that occurred the week before, though. Even with the setback, Travis still threw the game-winning pass, keeping his now 5-0 team’s perfect record. 

Many would predict that the most drama Travis’ shirts would start would be with the teams he targeted. However, the apparel has caught the eye of another, unexpected entity who is none too happy about Travis’ new product.

Joe Exotic’s thoughts on the apparel

Just one day after the 23-year-old’s merchandise release, Joe Exotic responded to the new product through an X post. The imprisoned Netflix star of the series, ‘Tiger King’ called for an attorney to conduct a lawsuit against Travis over trademark infringement. 

The 60-year-old convicted felon went so far as to say that if he had to pass the Tiger King crown to anyone, it would be Graham Mertz of the University of Florida Gators. Exotic even created his own line of shirts going after the Seminoles.

This is all after Travis’ shirts fail to mention Exotic or “Tiger King.” The closest association Travis’ merchandise has to Exotic is that he captioned the shirts with, “College King” on his website. Plus, even if Travis was using the title on his shirts, Exotic can’t stop him. On3’s Pete Nakos stood up for Travis after researching U.S. Patent and Trademark laws. Nakos says, “Exotic only has the ‘Tiger King’ trademark for use with firearms, gaming machines, and skin creams.”

Travis has yet to comment on the matter. Instead, the QB is focusing on his athletic career and appears to be waiting for all the drama to subside. 

Overall, many people are talking about Jordan Travis while many are dissing Joe Exotic for threatening a college athlete. As the adage goes, “All publicity is good publicity.”

Victoria Jonach is an aspiring writer and media analyst fascinated by what kinds of activities players participate in off the football field. Growing up in New Jersey, she is a New York Giants fan and attends Rutgers University, pursuing a career in Journalism and Media Studies. She writes for FirstRoundMock.com covering anticipated draft picks and their acts of volunteerism, entrepreneurship, and other interests that shape these individuals.