The college sports landscape changed considerably, especially for the players, when the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a district court’s decision in NCAA v. Alston.
That case, with former West Virginia running back Shawn Alston as the lead name in the suit, paved the way for college athletes, and some high school ones, to be compensated for use of their name, image, and likeness. Soon after the case was decided, the NCAA developed rules to allow for such compensation, taking effect on July 1, 2021. The State of Ohio quickly developed its own rules, signed by Gov. Mike DeWine on June 28, a few days prior to the NCAA. West Virginia has NIL rules in development, but as of yet, they’ve yet to be signed into law.
Some athletes have already cashed in big. Alabama’s Bryce Young, after earning the Heisman Trophy in 2022, has a valuation of $3.2 million in NIL. Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud isn’t far behind, with $2.5 million.
Obviously, not all college athletes have the notoriety and earnings potential as the top Division I football and basketball players, but that’s not to say that NIL is only for a select few.
Athletes even at the Division II, III, NAIA and JUCO levels are taking advantage as well. And while they might not be earning in the millions, those NIL dollars are certainly helping their overall college experience.
“NIL has helped tremendously for our team ever since it came out last year,” said Lilly Ritz, an all-Horizon league fifth-year senior at Youngstown State and former standout at both Cambridge High School and all-American at Wheeling University. “We’ve been able to make some money that can help alleviate the stress of paying for groceries, gas, and other necessities which helps take away that stress.”
Ritz led Division II in rebounding for two years and was named a first-team All-American before testing the Division I waters and transferring to Youngstown State for her final two years of eligibility.
There, she’s led the team in scoring and rebounding, earning all-conference honors whilst helping the Penguins to a share of the regular-season Horizon crown.
The Horizon League partnered with OpenDorse to provide its athletes a gateway to access NIL and endorsement opportunities. Her profile can be found here.
“It’s all been an easy process,” Ritz said. “Our conference partners with an app called OpenDorse that gives you deals you just apply to and everything goes directly through the app.”
Finding Deals
Ritz said she’s yet to find any major NIL deals on a local level, either in her hometown of Cambridge or present locale in Youngstown.
She has made some appearances and stopped by camps, as well as hooked up with national brands. Some of her teammates, however, had cashed in locally.
“National companies seem to be having the most deals,” Ritz said. “I haven’t had any local, but some of my teammates have had deals with local companies to help promote our games. We’ve also been able to work some local camps and make some appearances here and there as well.
“My teammate, Paige Shy, has been very successful with the NIL deals because she has a great social media following, which makes it easy. She has deals with Dunkin Donuts, Bumble, and Powerade, just to name a few.
The Power of Social Media
True, exposure and notoriety, the levels of which are typically found in football and men’s basketball, lend themselves to the bigger deals. And while men lead in overall NIL endorsements, there are plenty of young women cashing in.
That’s because when it comes to NIL deals, social media following holds major sway in terms of attractiveness to any company. And as Ritz said, when it comes to social media, the ladies are simply doing it better.
“Having a big social media following is one of the biggest things that brands look at when trying to find an athlete to sponsor,” Ritz said. “I think women in general are better at social media, so it is pretty fair in that sense on the different deals that men and women can get.”
While she admitted football and men’s basketball players, on average, likely get more, she noted there are some ladies at the Division I level putting some serious “change” in their pockets. LSU’s Olivia Dunne comes to mind. One of the most followed athletes and top gymnasts, Dunne has 1.8 million Instagram followers and a ridiculous 5.3 million followers on TikTok. Yes, that’s million with an M.
The New York Times noted in a story that Dunne has made more than million dollars via NIL. And she’s not alone.
UConn basketball standout Paige Bueckers has also eclipsed the $1M mark with endorsements from Gatorade, StockX, and CashApp. She has a million Instagram followers and nearly 400,000 TikTok followers.
And while not everyone has that type of following or the potential to bring in that type of money, the opportunity to cash in is a boon at every level, one Ritz admits the players are thankful to have.
“We are grateful to be able to benefit form the NIL coming into place,” she said. “We also get cost of attendance which pays for our rent and we get a little money for food and other things, so having NIL deals on top of that is very beneficial and will help us later on down the line when we’re not athletes any longer.”
