Social Media’s Impact on NIL
We have already seen tons of college athletes profiting with the new NIL laws. For athletes in college, social media can be the most valuable way to grow their own brand because they do not have marketing consultants or widespread media coverage like their professional counterparts. Social media is not expanding the ability to profit but leveling the playing field for women due to their inequality in broadcasting. Fan engagement is no longer based on only viewership but by athletes' engagement with fans through athlete-driven media. It is known female athletes are more interactive with their fans on social media and according to a study by Sport Management review, “engagement ratios were somewhat consistent between male and female student-athletes” despite males tending to have more followers. We have seen 3 specific cases where women are leading the way with LSU gymnast Olivia Dunne, Lexi Sun’s clothing line, and the Cavinder twins.
Olivia Dunne is known as the social media queen. She has over 4 million followers on TikTok and 1.2 million on Instagram. There is no other college athlete that has more combined social media followers. With this following, Olivia is one of the poster children for NIL and social media and has the opportunity to be the first million dollar female college athlete.
All-American Volleyball player Lexi Sun from University of Nebraska is one of the first collegiate athletes to release her own apparel line. She partnered with REN athletics, a volleyball apparel company to design her own crew neck sweatshirt. The sweatshirt named “The Sunny Crew” released the same day Nebraska's legislation passed on July 1st. After the first batch of Sunny Crews sold out on July 7th, the hoodie is currently sold out from the second release.
Haley and Hanna Cavinder play together on Fresno State’s Women’s Basketball team. Off the court the twins have signed a deal with Boost Mobile and Six Star Pro nutrition. They signed this deal on July 1st, the first day of the NCAA’s new NIL rules. With 3.4 million followers on their combined TikTok account, the twins' deals may be the most significant of Day 1 for any college athlete.
This opportunity for sponsorships is also already having an impact on highschoolers as well. Mikey Williams is only 17 and still has 2 years to decide if he wants to go the college or pro route. But with his 5 million followers across multiple platforms he was able to sign a deal with Excel Sports Management. This deal will allow Mikey to “generate millions of dollars” according to Matt Davis, Excel’s vice president.
The new legislation by the NCAA is opening doors to not only current college athletes but prospecting ones as well. Besides the partnerships there is a growth in individuals own websites and brands. This is only the beginning of what is going to come from the growth in this industry, and the athlete will now be at the forefront.