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sports Friday 28 January 2022
‘It’s a man’s world’: Male athletes leading way in NIL money

By ERICA HUNZINGER I should take and work on.
AP Sports Writer It’s been fun, stressful and a
Male athletes are leading learning curve.”
the way six months after Black female athletes like
the NCAA cleared the way Thomas earning lucrative
for college athletes to earn NIL deals are believed to
money on their celebrity. be more the exception
They lead in total name, than the rule so far, sports
image and likeness com- marketing experts say.
pensation and have more Thilo Kunkel, an associ-
NIL deals than women, ac- ate professor and director
cording to third-party data of the Sport Industry Re-
from July 1 through Dec. search Center at Temple,
31 for some 125,000 ath- said “white women have a
letes — about a quarter of more affluent target mar-
the nearly 500,000 in the ket or followers than some
NCAA’s three divisions. who come from a diverse
NIL opportunities are clear- background” and “some
ly uneven, among genders brands don’t see as much
and Power Five schools. value” in a woman of col-
The Washington State wom- or’s target market.
en’s volleyball team, for ex- Plus, getting sponsors’ at-
ample, has zero deals. Sev- tention as a female athlete
eral of its international play- Fresno State’s Haley Cavinder, left, with Hanna Cavinder, right, celebrate during an NCAA college isn’t quite as simple as an
ers are not eligible for them basketball game game against Boise State on Jan. 23, 2021, in Fresno, Calif. Associated Press eye-grabbing Instagram
but coach Jen Greeny, post or a run of NCAA tour-
whose teams have gone to “eight figures.” general equivalence for Division I athlete was $1,036 naments. It helps to be at a
the NCAA Tournament six Most schools have balked men and women, does not at the end of 2021. big-time Power Five confer-
straight seasons, said wom- at releasing details provid- apply because schools are Overall compensation fig- ence school, Kunkel said,
en’s teams just don’t seem ed by their athletes, citing not striking the deals. ures are skewed by some because the “large brand
to be a priority. privacy concerns, though “It’s going to be up to who- reportedly massive deals community — those alum-
“I am not aware of any- Ohio State said this week ever decides to pay the kid, for a small group of star ni, those followers — get
one that has approached that 220 athletes had been sponsor the kid, endorse athletes like UConn basket- much stronger.”
any of our players, and we paid a total of $2.98 million the kid, whatever it might ball player Paige Bueckers Of course, even if you are
are (the) most successful for 608 reported NIL activi- be, that’s their decision,” ( Gatorade, StockX), Fresno in a Power Five conference
sport at Washington State,” ties since July 1. said Matthew Robinson, a State basketball’s Cavin- like Washington State, there
Greeny said. “So, it is a little INFLCR and Opendorse professor of sport manage- der twins, Haley and Han- is no guarantee the money
bit disheartening.” — another company that ment at Delaware. na (Boost Mobile, Baseline will come your way as a
Men’s sports make more got into the industry early That has so far favored Team clothing company ), female athlete. The Cou-
money — often enough — have released some male athletes, though IN- LSU gymnast Olivia Dunne gars “don’t have the do-
to help fund other sports gender- and sport-specific FLCR CEO Jim Cavale said (Vuori, American Eagle), nor base that a lot of other
— and have a much larg- details. The companies say “if you remove football UCLA soccer’s Reilyn Turner schools in the Pac-12 or in
er presence on TV and in they don’t track deals by from the equation, transac- ( Nike ), Kentucky basket- the Power Five do,” Greeny
media, so it’s natural that race or ethnicity. tions or activities disclosed ball’s TyTy Washington ( said.
businesses look to those Male athletes in Division I by female student-athletes Porsche dealership ) and “(I’m concerned) that us
athletes for the best return reported more NIL deals make up more than 50% of Alabama quarterback as a female sport are go-
on investment, sports man- than female athletes — the total for all other sports.” Bryce Young (Cash App, ing to lose out on donor
agement experts say. 59% of the total, according Five women’s sports rank trading cards). money in general for the
“It’s a man’s world. We’re to data from July 1 through in the top 10 for NIL activi- “You’re going to have peo- things we actually need,
just trying to find our place Dec. 31 from INFLCR. Its ties, based on INFLCR and ple making millions, and and those donors are go-
in it,” said professor Ketra data is based on transac- Opendorse data: track they’re going to be the ing to be called upon for
Armstrong, director of the tions that have been re- and field, volleyball, bas- minority,” Robinson said. “I NIL deals,” she said. “So
University of Michigan’s ported by athletes in the ketball, soccer and softball. think it’s gonna be a lot of instead of us as a whole
Center for Race and Eth- INFLCR system — more Opendorse said six wom- people making hundreds department reaping the
nicity in Sport and a mem- than 70,000 across 200-plus en’s sports are also in the and thousands.” benefits of these donors, it’s
ber of the Michigan Task schools. top 10 for NIL compensa- Florida’s Trinity Thomas, the going to go to a few male
Force on Women in Sport. Opendorse, meanwhile, tion, led by women’s bas- 2020 SEC gymnast of the athletes. And we just don’t
She added: “For women to found that Division I male ketball (26.2%), which is be- year and a former member have that many donors to
break into this, it has to be athletes grabbed 67.4% hind only football (45.7%) of the U.S. national team, go around.”q
strategic. It has to be inten- of total NIL compensation and ahead of men’s bas- has done several NIL deals
tional. It almost has to be compared with 32.6% of ketball (18%). Those three has more in the pipeline.
unusual.” women through Dec. 31, sports make up about 90% Most of them have been
There is no public clearing- citing data for some 55,000 of total NIL compensation. social media posts — and
house that tracks NIL com- athletes across more than The vast majority of NIL the number of followers
pensation and activity, so 575 schools. deals are modest: Average matters.
the true size of the fledgling The NIL era allows athletes compensation across all “I’ve always been active
industry is somewhat un- to tap the free market un- three divisions, per INFLCR, on social media, but not
known. NIL tech platform der broad rules in place was $1,291 overall through as much as I am now,”
INFLCR declined to give an from the NCAA, states and Dec. 31, with a median Thomas said. “I’m definitely
exact figure, but said ath- schools. Title IX, the federal compensation of just $51. trying to build a following
letes using its system have law that requires athletic Opendorse said the aver- now. I figure if I have the
reported deals totaling departments to provide age compensation for a opportunity, it’s something facebook.com/arubatoday/