WASHINGTON D.C., January 28, 2015 – NFL Players Inc. (NFLPI), the marketing and licensing arm of the NFL Players Association, today unveiled its first-ever “Rising 50” list, aimed at identifying for sponsors, licensees, retailers and future partners the next crop of NFL players poised to break out and rank among top sellers of licensed merchandise. The inaugural list covers the 2014 season, highlighted by popular veteran players, emerging young stars and highly-touted college players entering the NFL Draft. Odell Beckham Jr. leads the roster of these future retail stars best positioned to influence overall sales, followed by Le’Veon Bell, Marcus Mariota, Antonio Brown and T.Y. Hilton. Jeremy Hill, Mike Evans, Jameis Winston, Randall Cobb, Kelvin Benjamin, Emmanuel Sanders, Alshon Jeffery, DeAndre Hopkins, Julius Thomas, Golden Tate, C.J. Anderson, Ronnie Hillman, Montee Ball, Blake Bortles and Julian Edelman are also included on the list.The NFLPI Rising 50 rankings provide an objective analysis and also take into account on-field performances during the 2014 season, fantasy league popularity, early demand from current partners and licensees and new faces in strong markets as factors for sales popularity analysis. Players must not have appeared in previous NFLPI Top 50 Player Sales lists. The list of players will be updated only once annually.“NFLPI’s depth of knowledge about NFL players provides our business partners with some valuable sales and marketing insights, and the Rising 50 list is designed to be a unique resource they can use to plan for the upcoming season,” said incoming NFLPI President Ahmad Nassar. “We believe the list will stir up some healthy debate while becoming a useful tool for evaluation going forward.”NFLPI Rising 50 List:1. Odell Beckham Jr.2. Le’Veon Bell3. Marcus Mariota4. Antonio Brown5. T.Y. Hilton6. Jeremy Hill7. Mike Evans8. Jameis Winston9. Randall Cobb10. Kelvin Benjamin11. Emmanuel Sanders12. Alshon Jeffery13. DeAndre Hopkins14. Julius Thomas15. Golden Tate16. C.J. Anderson(tie) Ronnie Hillman(tie) Montee Ball19. Blake Bortles20. Julian Edelman21. Giovani Bernard22. Andre Ellington23. Amari Cooper24. Brandin Cooks25. Connor Barwin26. Bobby Wagner27. Latavius Murray28. Khalil Mack29. C.J. Mosley 30. Travis Kelce31. Melvin Gordon32. Jordan Matthews33. Jarvis Landry34. Tyrann Mathieu35. Tre Mason36. Denard Robinson37. Lamar Miller38. Jadeveon Clowney39. Mark Ingram40. Martavis Bryant41. Eric Decker42. Joique Bell 43. Devonta Freeman44. Davante Adams45. Carlos Hyde46. Todd Gurley47. Bishop Sankey48. Kiko Alonso49. Chris Borland50. Brock Osweiler
