UNC’s Davis, Trojans’ Watkins pace NIL market

Basketball players continue to dominate name, image and likeness deals, with North Carolina‘s RJ Davis and USC‘s JuJu Watkins leading all male and female athletes in endorsements over the past 12 months, according to a new report from sponsorship data company SponsorUnited.

Davis leads all male athletes with 25 NIL deals, while Arizona punter Cash Peterman has 21, followed by 2024 Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter with 19. Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers and LSU basketball player Trace Young have 17 deals each.

Among female athletes, Watkins has 20 NIL deals, according to the report. The University of Miami’s Haley and Hanna Cavinder have 18 combined, while UConn‘s Paige Bueckers and Oregon‘s Deja Kelly have 16 deals each. LSU‘s Flau’jae Johnson has 15 deals.

The NIL economy in college athletics has grown into a $1 billion business since its start almost four years ago, according to the report.

“Basketball consistently dominates NIL deals because it perfectly combines visibility, personality and cultural impact,” SponsorUnited CEO Bob Lynch told ESPN.

The new data underscored the growing marketability of women’s college athletes, particularly in basketball, as women outpace men on social media in follower count and engagement.

“Players like Caitlin Clark and JuJu Watkins aren’t just athletes, they’re compelling storytellers whose careers are closely followed from high school through college,” Lynch said, adding that basketball culture “resonates on a massive scale.”

Bueckers, who led the Huskies to a Final Four berth, added about 3 million followers on her social media platforms in the past 12 months, one million more than any male athlete. Bueckers also had the highest audience engagement with her posts.

Eight of the top 10 athletes in audience engagement were women.

“Businesses are realizing that investing in women’s sports is a good business decision,” said Shannon Scovel, a former Division I swimmer and professor who studies sports and media at the University of Tennessee, in an interview with ESPN. “There’s been this perception that the only sports that can make money for businesses are certain men’s sports. And women’s sports have now shown that if you invest in them, you’ll get a return on investment.”

SponsorUnited’s report also found that:

• Gymnast Hezly Rivera, the youngest member of Team USA and an LSU commit, has as much engagement on social media as Travis Hunter and Cooper Flagg combined.

• EA Sports, Raising Cane’s, Powerade, Epsilon and Adidas led all brands in NIL deals across college sports.

• 75% of the top 150 most engaged-with social posts were from female athletes.

• While all of the top NIL endorsers among female athletes are star players, only three of the top men’s endorsers are even starters. Peterman has not appeared in a game since 2022. Young played 10 minutes total for LSU last season, finishing with no points, rebounds or assists.

The number of tracked NIL deals grew by only 1% compared to last year, according to the report. Technology and nonalcoholic beverages drove the most growth while retail and apparel brands cut the number of NIL agreements with athletes.