Show Me the Money: Factors Contributing to College Football NIL Valuations

Abstract

Extant research has established that social media is a significant mechanism for college athletes to monetize their name, image, and likeness (NIL). Correspondingly, social media following serves as a significant predictor in the calculations of college athletes’ NIL valuations. However, considering media coverage, fanaticism, and varying athletic conference and athletic department statures, additional inherent factors may also contribute to college athletes’ NIL valuations. Accordingly, the present study sought to analyze a subpopulation of college athletes to determine the most significant predictors of their NIL valuations. Utilizing Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) athletes during the 2023–2024 academic year, NIL valuations of 5,649 available players were analyzed. Findings reveal that while conference affiliation and position significantly impacted FBS football players’ NIL valuations, aggregate social media following was the most significant predictor of NIL value. Practical implications are discussed, and two distinct typologies of NIL-based compensation are proposed.

Keywords

NCAA booster collectives social media marketability branding

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Arai

Y. J.

Kaplanidou

(2013). Athlete brand image: Scale development and model test. European Sport Management Quarterly, 13(4), 383–403. https://doi.org/10.1080/16184742.2013.811609

Bee

C. C.

Kahle

L. R.

(2006). Relationship marketing in sports: A functional approach. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 15(2), 102–110. https://doi.org/10.1177/106169340601500205

Biscaia

Correia

Rosado

A. F.

Ross

S. D.

Maroco

(2013). Sport sponsorship: The relationship between team loyalty, sponsorship awareness, attitude toward the sponsor, and purchase intentions. Journal of Sport Management, 27(4), 288–302. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.27.4.288

Carlson

B. D.

Donavan

D. T.

(2008). Concerning the effect of athlete endorsements on brand and team-related intentions. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 17(3), 154–162. https://doi.org/10.1177/106169340801700304

Carlson

B. D.

Donavan

D. T.

(2013). Human brands in sport: Athlete brand personality and identification. Journal of Sport Management, 27(3), 193–206. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.27.3.193

Corr

Atwater

Southall

R. M.

(2022). Barriers to advancement: The value of black coaches as recruiters in SEC football. Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics, 15, 647–667.

Corr

Bopp

Atwater

Nite

(2023c). Chasing stars: Racial tasking of recruiting responsibilities among power-5 football coaches. Journal of Intercollegiate Sport, 16(3), 262–278. https://doi.org/10.17161/jis.v16i

Corr

Southall

R. M.

Southall

Hart

R. J.

(2023a). Hyper-professionalized and commodified: A case study examination of FBS bowl games and the utilization of football players as programmatic promotional material. International Journal of Sport Communication, 16(2), 228–238. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijsc.2022-0200

Corr

Weiner

Stokowski

(2023b). “We do everything on our own”: FBS athletes’ perceptions of NIL value and support. Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics, 16, 334–351.

10.

Dellenger

(2026, January 7). How are schools trying to lure top-tier QBs in transfer portal? Here’s an inside look at LSU’s pursuit of Brendan Sorsby. Yahoo! Sports. https://sports.yahoo.com/college-football/breaking-news/article/how-are-schools-trying-to-lure-top-tier-qbs-in-transfer-portal-heres-an-inside-look-at-lsus-pursuit-of-brendan-sorsby-162435817.html.

11.

Fridley

Springer

Stokowski

Anderson

(2023). Athlete–student–influencer: How the introduction of name, image, and likeness in intercollegiate athletics further complicates applications of role theory. Sociology of Sport Journal, 41(1), 90–98. https://doi.org/10.1123/ssj.2022-0139

12.

Goff

B. L.

Kim

H. Y.

Wilson

D. P.

(2017). Estimating the market value of collegiate football players from professional factor shares. Applied Economics Letters, 24(4), 233–237. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504851.2016.1178842

13.

Gwinner

Bennett

(2008). The impact of brand cohesiveness and sport identification on brand fit in a sponsorship context. Journal of Sport Management, 22(4), 410–426. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.22.4.410

14.

Howe

J. E.

Black

W. L.

Jones

W. A.

(2023). Exercising power: A critical examination of national collegiate athletic association discourse related to name, image, and likeness. Journal of Sport Management, 37(5), 333–344. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.2022-0151

15.

Hummer

(2024, February 6). How real is NIL? Anonymous recruits in college football’s 2024 class dish on collectives, contracts and more. 247Sports. https://247sports.com/article/how-real-is-nil-anonymous-recruits-in-college-footballs-2024-class-dish-on-collectives-contracts-and-more-226740097/.

16.

Hunsberger

P. K.

Gitter

S. R.

(2015). What is a blue chip recruit worth? Estimating the marginal revenue product of college football quarterbacks. Journal of Sports Economics, 16(6), 664–690. https://doi.org/10.1177/1527002515580938

17.

Jimerson

Jones

Lukens

Miller

Stokowski

Godfrey

Bopp

Corr

(2025). “I know more about what we can’t do than what we can”: Division I women’s sports athletes’ perceptions of name, image, and likeness. The COSMA Journal, 2, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.25035/cosma.02.01.01

18.

Keller

K. L.

(1993). Conceptualizing, measuring, and managing customer-based brand equity. Journal of Marketing, 57(1), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224299305700101

19.

Kunkel

Baker

B. J.

Baker III

T. A.

Doyle

J. P.

(2021). There is no nil in NIL: Examining the social media value of student-athletes’ names, images, and likeness. Sport Management Review, 24(5), 839–861. https://doi.org/10.1080/14413523.2021.1880154

20.

Liu

Chen

Xue

(2026). Assessing the impact of female athlete endorsers on brands: A focus on Olympic athletes. International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship, 27(1), 113–134. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSMS-11-2024-0315

21.

Liu

Zheng

(2024). The persuasive power of social media influencers in brand credibility and purchase intention. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 11(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-02512-1

22.

Lou

Yuan

(2019). Influencer marketing: How message value and credibility affect consumer trust of branded content on social media. Journal of Interactive Advertising, 19(1), 58–73. https://doi.org/10.1080/15252019.2018.1533501

23.

Maniece

(2024, August 31). Travis Hunter is one of college sports’ top earners. Here are the 10 student-athletes with the highest NIL valuations. Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/highest-paid-college-athletes-nil-deals-valuations.

24.

Marshall

(2024, January 11). Parity, the portal and NIL all driving a new era for college basketball and how teams are ranked. USA Today. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/2024/01/11/parity-the-portal-and-nil-all-driving-a-new-era-for-college-basketball-and-how-teams-are-ranked/72193186007/.

25.

Nakos

(2023, September 25). Hey Dude releases collegiate collection, launches NIL campaign with 12 athletes. On3. https://www.on3.com/nil/news/hey-dude-shoes-collegiate-collection-nil-campaign-quinn-ewers-jalen-milroe/.

26.

National Collegiate Athletic Association. (2023, August 2). DI board directs council to develop plans for NIL protections. NCAA. https://www.ncaa.org/news/2023/8/2/media-center-di-board-directs-council-to-develop-plans-for-nil-protections.aspx.

27.

National Collegiate Athletic Association. (2024). NCAA demographics database. NCAA. https://www.ncaa.org/sports/2018/12/13/ncaa-demographics-database.aspx .

28.

Pangallo

(2024, September 19). Jalen Milroe has one of the highest NIL valuations in college sports. Athlon Sports. https://athlonsports.com/college/all-crimson-tide/jalen-milroe-has-one-of-the-highest-nil-valuations-in-college-sports.

29.

Parks

(2024, March 1). College football expansion: Every realignment move coming in 2024. Sports Illustrated. https://www.si.com/fannation/college/cfb-hq/ncaa-football/college-football-expansion-what-realignment-moves-will-happen-in-2024.

30.

Postgame. (2024a). NIL campaign steps. Postgame. https://www.home.pstgm.com/process2.

31.

Postgame. (2024b). Postgame player portal. Postgame. https://pstgm.com/portal/search.cfm.

32.

Steinberg

(2023, July 5). Postgame app unleashes an army of NIL-lionaires. Boardroom. https://boardroom.tv/postgame-app-nil-coin-crypto/.

33.

Stokowski

Corr

Rudd

Lewis

Powell

Stuart

Bellamy

Rivers

Godfrey

(2024). Focus on followers: An analysis of factors impacting division I athletes’ name, image, and likeness value. Journal of Applied Sport Management, 16(3), 11–20. https://doi.org/10.7290/jasm16wozb

34.

Stokowski

Smith

A. B.

Fridley

Corr

Paule-Koba

A. L.

(2023). “The most important shot you will ever take”: The burgeoning role of social media activism in challenging embedded NCAA patriarchy. International Journal of Sport Communication, 16(4), 482–492. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijsc.2023-0159

35.

Guo

Wegner

Baker

(2023). The new wave of influencers: Examining college athlete identities and the role of homophily and parasocial relationships in leveraging name, image, and likeness. Journal of Sport Management, 37(5), 371–388. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.2022-0192

36.

Teape

(2024, July 30). Colorado star Shadeur Sanders branching out with new NIL opportunity. Sports Illustrated. https://www.si.com/fannation/name-image-likeness/nil-news/colorado-star-shedeur-sanders-branching-out-with-new-nil-opportunity.

37.

Webb

(2023, November 5). CVS hosts meet and greet with UF star athletes in Gainesville. WCJB. https://www.wcjb.com/2023/11/05/cvs-hosts-meet-greet-with-uf-star-athletes-gainesville/.

38.

Williams

(2024, August 1). What’s the future of NIL collective after the House v. NCAA settlement? The Athletic. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5672150/2024/08/01/nil-collectives-ncaa-lawsuit-settlement/.

39.

Williams

Chinn

S. J.

(2010). Meeting relationship-marketing goals through social media: A conceptual model for sport marketers. International Journal of Sport Communication, 3(4), 422–437. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijsc.3.4.422