Alumni Spotlight:  Eron Roussel

Turning NIL Into Opportunity

The new era of NIL has opened the doors for exciting opportunities for entrepreneurs and startups to collaborate directly with college athletes, creating a mutually beneficial relationship between athlete and company.

Alumnus Eron Roussel (2006 BACH H&SS) from New Orleans saw this opportunity and started his own brand of cheese curls called Baller Bites, where not only would the consumer be getting a quality chip product, but, as the site says, every bag goes to support the grind, hustle, and future of student-athletes.

“I came up with the idea of Baller Bites by partnering with athletes directly, kind of how Rap Snacks did with rappers,” Roussel said.

Building Partnerships Through Sports

Roussel already has a history of working with LSU post-graduation. When he was a member of music group “Da Future,” they sampled The Golden Band from Tigerland for their song “Tiger Bait,” which was the first-ever music licensing deal with LSU. Unfortunately, despite the hype gathered from this song, LSU lost the BCS Championship to Alabama 0-21.

But Roussel was able to make lemonade out of the sour game. LSU was impressed with the way he marketed the school, so they offered him a job to shoot video for LSU Sports. Accepting this offer, Roussel said he shot videos for softball, men’s and women’s basketball, and football.

This relationship Roussel built up with the creative department at LSU served as a foot in the door years later when he successfully pitched a collaboration between Baller Bites, Dr. Pepper, and Harold Perkins, Jr.

“Our initial deal last season was a tuition scholarship,” Roussel said. “High schoolers were able to hit up the QR code on the back of the bag, and they’d sign up for a chance at winning said scholarship. And that went well.”

LSU loved the idea, and starting in 2026-2027, Baller Bites will be an official partner of LSU Sports, to be sold at every sporting event on campus at every venue. With this collaboration, Roussel said each sport will have their own custom bag design for that sport.

Currently, Baller Bites only has one flavor: LA BBQ Cheese Curls, which will be sold at LSU events starting this fall. However, Roussel is hoping to expand collaboration with professional athletes, with talks in place with NFL sophomore players and LSU Football alumni. Beyond football, Baller Bites is also in talks with the WNBA for a collaborative flavor as well.

Sports has always been an important part of Roussel’s life. A lifelong New Orleans Saints and LSU Tiger fan, he said when he was younger, he would go to bed with SportsCenter playing in the background. Now, Roussel is able to give back to the newest generation of athletes through Baller Bites and collaborative scholarship programs as with Perkins Jr. and Dr. Pepper last season.

“Most scholarships are essay based, you know, you give them a reason why you deserve the scholarship and all,” Roussel said. “With this one, it was strictly just signing up. We wanted it to be something fun and shareable, but very serious as far as what they will receive. Last season we gave out $5,000 to New Orleans and $5,000 to Baton Rouge (athletes), just because that was where Perkins impacted the most players.”

Roussel said he is hoping to do more sweepstakes in general for all college kids, not just athletes, including prizes such as tickets to the SEC Championship, College Football Playoffs and more high value items.

Besides sweepstakes and cheese curls, Roussel wants to ensure athletes have success in all parts of their life, from financial success to mental health. Being from New Orleans, he wants to be a mentor to kids from the area, giving back to the city he grew up in.

“We’re not just a regular NIL deal that cuts a check,” Roussel said. “We also pair our athletes with financial advisors so athletes can know what to do with this newfound money. As you can imagine, being so young, but having the pressure of professional performance and the pressure of social media, it could take a toll on an athlete’s mental capacity, so we make sure they have access to counselors and resources like that.”