Before traveling to New Orleans on New Year's Day to lead the Washington Huskies in the Sugar Bowl, quarterback Michael Penix Jr. drove around Seattle for Amazon.
Penix — a Heisman Trophy runner-up and one of college football's biggest stars — helped Amazon with the delivery. From board games to speakers to a waffle maker, Penix surprised customers at the door with handshakes and signed footballs. Last week, he donned the signature blue vest worn by Amazon delivery drivers and accompanied Amazon warehouse workers through a round of stretching exercises before loading packages to drop off.
Why might Penix spend time knocking on Amazon customers' doors? Two reasons – an Amazon milestone and money.
According to an Amazon blog post and a video with Penix, the quarterback was on site to help deliver the billionth package shipped from an Amazon delivery facility on the same day. These sites, which help packages arrive hours after customers click “buy,” are key to Amazon's years-long efforts to speed deliveries, which have surged recently.
Earlier this year, Amazon announced that it would double the number of same-day delivery facilities it operates in the “coming years,” adding to the existing 55 such facilities. At the same time, Amazon is moving to a more regionalized fulfillment network that focuses on keeping products close to customers. Amazon's goal is to speed up delivery by reducing the number of employees processing an item and the number of miles an item must travel.
Amazon uses Amazon Flex drivers, gig workers who use their own vehicles to make deliveries, at its same-day delivery facilities.
In other areas of its operations, Amazon uses a network of third-party delivery drivers to keep its warehouses running. These workers earn an average of $20.50 an hour, a slight increase this year after Amazon committed $840 million to its Delivery Service Partner program. In the five years it has been in operation, the program has been criticized by critics who say Amazon sets unrealistic expectations for the speed of deliveries and by business owners who accuse Amazon of controlling most aspects of operations and stealing potential profits highly stated entrepreneur.
Aside from same-day delivery, Penix may also have benefited financially from the deliveries. Amazon declined to share the financial details of the partnership, but said it was a paid collaboration.
According to a study by consulting firm Navigate Research and AthleticDirectorU, a college sports media platform, student-athletes can earn between $1,000 and $10,000 by partnering with brands to feature products or logos in social media posts, videos or other public events present.
According to Penix's profile on Opendorse – which describes itself as an “athlete's marketplace” – he charges $300 or more to record a video, $500 or more for an autograph and more than $800 for one Appearance.
But it's not easy to figure out how much Penix may have been compensated because the deals are not conducted through the University of Washington, a public institution. Instead, they are handled by an independent collective, which has become common since the NCAA began allowing athletes to make money from their name, image and likeness (NIL) in 2021.
About a year later, about 17% of student-athletes at Division I institutions like the UW participated in NIL activities, according to trade publication Sports Business Journal.
Opendorse estimates that the NIL market could reach $1.2 billion this academic year, the third since the change. Soccer players could account for $726 million of that, according to Opendorse's annual report published last summer.
Penix has worked with several other brands including Alaska Airlines, Beats, Celsius, Epic Seats, Raising Cane's and Simply Seattle. He is one of two college football players working with Adidas.
On3Elite, a news and analysis site focused on college athletes and NIL, estimates Penix is worth $1.3 million. According to the ON3 rankings, he is the 16th highest-rated college athlete.
Penix stood in an Amazon warehouse and spoke enthusiastically about the possibility of same-day delivery in a video posted on Amazon's website. He signed off by telling fans he had to get going because “I have a game to win.”
The Sugar Bowl between Washington and Texas, a College Football Playoff semifinal game, is scheduled to begin at 5:45 p.m. Pacific Time on New Year's Day.
Preview coverage of UW vs. Texas in the CFP Sugar Bowl
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