Kwik Trip Teams Up for First NIL Student Partnership

LA CROSSE, Wis. — Kwik Trip Inc. is going back to school with its first NIL (name, image, likeness) partnership.

The Wisconsin-based convenience store chain is teaming up with Will Hazeltine, a 21-year-old mellophone player for the University of Wisconsin marching band. According to the retailer, Hazeltine contacted Kwik Trip to inquire about a NIL partnership. The geological engineering major loves "everything Kwik Trip," especially Karuba Gold coffee.

[Read more: Lessons From Kwik Trip on Instilling a Foodservice Culture]

"It's really exciting for Will to be part of this first partnership," said Kwik Trip Social Media Coordinator Hayden Knoll. "He's passionate about Kwik Trip and has a unique story and background. He will have all the creative freedom he wants, and we are excited to see what he does with it."

Hazeltine said he drinks two to three cups of Karuba Gold coffee a day. He also put together a spreadsheet ranking of his favorite Kwik Trip Karuba Gold flavors.

"Kwik Trip is just an awesome gas station," Hazeltine said. "Being part of that team expresses that whole Wisconsin attitude and mindset; it's pretty cool. To me, Kwik Trip is as much Wisconsin as the Green Bay Packers are, UW-Madison is, cheese and milk. You think of Wisconsin, as someone from Wisconsin, I think of Kwik Trip. It's pretty awesome to be a part of that now."

NIL partnerships are becoming more frequent in the convenience channel among retailers and suppliers. Earlier this year, Kellogg's Cheez-It brand inked its first-ever NIL deals with four college football athletes, while Jacksons Food Stores entered into a partnership with the University of Washington football team to sell trading cards at the end of last year.

Headquartered in La Crosse, Kwik Trip operates more than 840 convenience stores in the Midwest. Its stores are known as Kwik Trip in Minnesota and Wisconsin, and as Kwik Star in Iowa.