- Men make up the majority of NIL brand deals, but women athletes get more on average, new data shows.
- The report from SponsorUnited shows how brands are investing in women's college sports.
- Here are five takeaways from the report on the NIL marketing landscape.
When it comes to scoring NIL deals, women college athletes are gaining on their male counterparts, according to a new report from the sports-and-entertainment intelligence platform SponsorUnited.
The report showed that women college athletes get more brand deals on average than college men, although the men still make up the majority of NIL deals overall.
The increase in deals for women athletes stems from the rising popularity of players who have changed the landscape in women's sports, from basketball to volleyball.
Stars such as former Iowa Hawkeyes guard Caitlin Clark and the LSU Tigers' Angel Reese have brought millions to watch and attend women's college basketball games. In March, more than 12.3 million viewers tuned into a rematch between LSU and Iowa — the game was one of the most-watched NCAA women's basketball games ever, broadcaster ESPN announced.
"There's a star factor that's certainly happened," SponsorUnited CEO Bob Lynch told Business Insider.
As women's college sports gain traction, athletes have profited from high-valued NIL deals.
Reese scored an estimated $1.8 million in deals from brands such as Coach and McDonald's, while Clark racked up an estimated $3.1 million in deals from brands including Gatorade, State Farm, and Nike, according to On3 data published by BI.
LSU gymnast Olivia Dunne is the highest-paid woman in NIL with an estimated $3.7 million in annual deal value, according to On3.
Lynch at SponsorUnited said brands are investing more in women athletes because the increased viewership and audience interest shows advertisers that women's sports are here to stay. He also said social-media engagement is overwhelmingly stronger among women college athletes compared with men.
SponsorUnited collected data on the NIL market from more than 1,750 brands, 3,000 deals, and 3,150 social posts from collegiate athletes from February 2023 to February 2024.
Here are five key takeaways from the report:
Women college athletes are getting more NIL deals
While men still made up 57% of NIL deals overall, women got more brand deals on average — 3.5 compared to 2.5 among men, SponsorUnited found.
The number of women among the top 100 athletes ranked by total NIL deals also increased 37% year over year in 2023 to surpass the number of men, with 52 women in the top 100, per SponsorUnited.
That growth was driven largely by women's volleyball, softball, and basketball players.
Brands aren't putting all their money into college football
Brands are deciding what sports best fit their portfolios. These sports include women's volleyball, track and field, and softball, which saw the most growth in the average number of NIL deals per athlete during 2023.
This shows that brands are expanding beyond the most popular sports, such as football and basketball, which saw smaller growth in this metric from 2022 to 2023.
"A few years ago," Lynch said, "you would've thought it's going to be all concentrated toward college football players where the general traditional advertising money is gone."
That hasn't been the case.
The growth in women's volleyball deals was driven by former Southern Methodist University player Alex Glover's impressive 41 NIL deals in 2023 and the sport's rising popularity.
"Women's volleyball has exploded," Lynch said. The brand community has really diversified who it works with."
Women athletes are among the most engaging on social media
Women made up 62% of the top 100 most-engaging athletes on social media in 2023, SponsorUnited found.
Their average social-media follower growth also exceeded 34%, according to the report.
"This reflects the potential for brands to leverage partnerships to engage the growing and captivated audience of these popular women sports," the report said.
Some brands are investing in college players over professional athletes
The report shows that 35% of brands only invest in college athletes compared to the 51% that only invest in professional sports.
Lynch said brands are working with college athletes because they adopted social media very young and know how to make engaging content. For example, he said college athletes on TikTok are leveraging brands better than professional athletes on the platform.
Brands also partner with college athletes because "the cost of entry is just lower," Lynch said. "Brands are going to capitalize on the fact that they have large audiences."
Brands aren't likely to renew a deal when a student-athlete goes pro
The report shows that less than 15% of NIL deals signed during an athlete's collegiate career are renewed in the first year of an athlete's professional season. Of the deals that do carry over, less than 1%, are offered in the second season of the athlete's career.
Lynch said that's partly because brand sponsors know not all student-athletes will go to professional leagues and don't expect to have long-term relationships with them.
If an athlete goes pro and enters another market, continuing the partnership might not make sense — if, for example, the brand is a local advertiser.