Now that college athletes can be paid, a March Madness buzzer-beater could be worth a lot more than a trip to the Final Four. It could be worth thousands of dollars, thanks to the name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals college basketball’s biggest stars can sign.
The Supreme Court may have forever changed the college sports landscape when it ruled that NCAA athletes should be allowed to profit off their images. NIL deals mean students can get money in various ways — including via endorsement deals, sponsorships, business ventures, partnerships, and collectives that raise money on behalf of a university.
With that kind of money now in college sports, some athletes are making upward of a million dollars.
College athletes have signed NIL deals with huge companies, including Gatorade (PEP), Uber (UBER), Adidas (ADDYY), Chipotle (CMG), Redbull, and Amazon (AMZN). High school students can get in on the action, too — USC women’s basketball commit Jazzy Davidson has signed a multiyear deal with Nike (NKE), while No. 1 men’s basketball recruit AJ Dybantsa reportedly landed an NIL deal worth around $7 million for committing to BYU.
Media group On3 has created an NIL Valuation index, which, according to the website, “calculates the optimized NIL opportunity for athletes relative to the overall NIL market and projects outcomes over the next 12 months.” Football players typically earn the most NIL money — 21 of the top 25 earners on On3’s ranking play the sport. The top-earning collegian is Texas quarterback Arch Manning ($6.5 million), while the female athlete who brings in the most NIL money is LSU gymnast Livvy Dunne ($4.1 million), who is fourth overall on On3’s list.
But basketball players are no slouches when it comes to NIL deals. Via On3’s ranking, here’s a look at the top 15 NIL earners among the men’s and women’s March Madness stars.
