FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – It is 2:20 p.m., and Darren Heitner hasn’t eaten lunch.
Any attempt at such has ended with his talking around parcels of chicken salad while juggling phone conversations.
On Wednesday, the eve of college athletes’ most liberating day, Heitner represented an image of this new, untapped space. From his three-story, waterside condo, the Florida sports attorney fielded requests from brands, agents and marketers roaring to get into this arena, where, suddenly, more than 400,000 NCAA athletes are now on the market.
Heitner just so happens to be orchestrating, in an unofficial capacity, what is believed to be the most significant Day 1 contract of any college athlete—twin sisters Hanna and Haley Cavinder, women’s basketball players at Fresno State and, even more notable, mavens on social media.