Even before NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced Fernando Mendoza going to the Las Vegas Raiders with the No. 1 pick in Thursday’s draft, the rookie quarterback was already inking partnership deals.
Mendoza’s star rose last season as he led Indiana to an undefeated season and the university’s first football national championship, netting himself the Heisman Trophy along the way.
Mendoza signed name, image and likeness deals during his final college season and then began racking up partnership deals soon after leading Indiana to win the College Football Playoff national championship in January.
It began with LinkedIn, where the business-minded Mendoza changed his status to open to work on the professional networking platform after declaring for the draft. Mendoza, a graduate of Cal’s Haas School of Business, kept that partnership going by removing the open to work tag after he was drafted, and LinkedIn had a commercial that featured Mendoza celebrating his entrance into the NFL after being drafted by the Raiders.
Mendoza also inked deals with Taco Bell, US Bank, Adidas, Boss, Epic Games, Keurig, Dr. Pepper, Wheels Up and Pfizer.
Mendoza, with his business acumen, took a purposeful approach to his partnership deals.
“Although the rise and spotlight has been fairly quick, I’ve always tried to keep my brand standpoint at the forefront,” Mendoza told CNBC. “I can show, at the highest level, that not only can I perform on the field, I can perform off the field in any situation. Whether it’s a meeting, whether it’s a presentation, or whether it’s a getting to meet some new great people.”
Taco Bell had an advertisement running on Friday on the massive LED billboard on Las Vegas Boulevard and Harmon Avenue, congratulating Mendoza on being drafted.
Leadership exemplified
Mendoza’s straightforward approach to football and his wholesome family life off the field quickly built up his fan base. His dedication to his mother, Elsa, who lives with multiple sclerosis, is also a big draw to fans and his partnership companies.
Wheels Up, a private aviation company, announced Mendoza as an ambassador in February and that it was meaningful for him to be able to make travel more comfortable and manageable for his mother.
“At Wheels Up, we strive to remove barriers and give our members and customers the freedom to focus on what matters most,” Wheels up CEO George Mattson said in a statement. “Fernando exemplifies leadership, discipline and purpose both on and off the field. Despite his individual accomplishments, he is a family-first team player who we believe aligns strongly with our brand, and we are proud to support him with a flexible travel approach that ensures the people who matter most can be alongside him.”
Mendoza has it all when it come to marketability, according to Natasha Brison, an associate professor at the University of South Carolina’s David and Nicole Tepper Department of Sport and Entertainment Management.
“Fernando Mendoza is a brand’s dream endorser: excelling both on and off the field,” said Brison, whose research focus includes sport marketing, brand management, athlete and coach branding. “On the field, he is tough, consistent and effective. Off the field, he is charismatic, professional and hard-working. In both aspects of his life, Mendoza shows he can be a part of a team (or family) but still lead when it is needed.”
Brison said possessing such attributes as Mendoza does explain why he is extremely marketable. She highlighted how the Raiders top pick’s choice to stay home in Miami for the NFL draft with his mother and celebrate with his family says a lot about his character and his values.
“His story is about optimism, perseverance and resilience; qualities that brands want to be associated with and want to convey to their consumers,” Brison said.
Mendoza brought his family with him last week to Las Vegas for his introduction. The Mendoza family sat around a table with Raiders owner Mark Davis in the dining area of the team’s headquarters before Mendoza took the stage to greet the fans.
Latino community opportunity
With Mendoza’s Cuban heritage, the quarterback is also primed to tap into the Latino community.
Ana Valdez, president and CEO of the Latino Donor Collaborative, a nonprofit organization that promotes the economic and cultural contributions of the Latino community, says Mendoza is positioned to be a huge hit with Spanish-speaking NFL fans.
There are nearly 40 million Latino NFL fans in the U.S., according to the NFL. With the large segment of Latino fans, the NFL put on a season-long campaign last year called “Por La Cultura” — for the culture — celebrating the community’s impact on the game.
The gross domestic product of U.S. Latinos is $4 trillion, which makes it the fifth-largest economy in the world, ahead of the United Kingdom, India and France, according to the Latino Donor Collaborative. Additionally, there can be an organic connection for the Raiders and Mendoza with a faster-growing consumer class, as according to the collaborative, the Latino purchasing power in the U.S. is growing 2.4 times faster than the non-Latino community.
“Even though Mendoza is not Mexican, he’s Cuban. For Mexicans in Mexico, all Latinos are brothers and sisters,” Valdez said. “In Mexico, there is absolutely no difference. They’re brothers, wherever they come from, if they come from a Spanish-speaking country. So yes, in Mexico, he’s going to be humongous.”
Mendoza’s academic achievements align with a nearly 200 percent increase in Latino men earning advanced degrees since 2000, which creates another bridge between Mendoza and the Latino community, Valdez said.
“If you see graduation, Latino kids, when they get their diploma, the first thing they do is go to their parents and give it to them,” Valdez said. “Fernando represents that so proudly, right? Some people say even in a nerdy way, but it is so sweet. I think it touches people, especially his mom being unfortunately sick and the devotion that this guy has to her and making important career decisions based on what’s best for him, for her.”
Raiders fan Michael Gonzales, who attended the fan fest at the team’s Henderson facility last week, sees the tie between a past Raiders great in former quarterback Tom Flores, a Mexican American who wore number 15, and Mendoza as the future of the franchise.
“The handoff is pretty cool,” Gonzales said. “(Mendoza is) the only Latino to wear 15 again, as a first-round quarterback … It’s kind of cool to have that bridge.”
Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.
