By: Taylor Mills

In June 2022 student-athletes from the University of Southern California were asked to participate in a “hype” video for a new company called BLVD LLC. Produced by the media company Stay Doubted, this promotional material aimed to draw investors in to support Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) deals for student-athletes.

Skylar Fields, a now graduate student outside hitter for the volleyball team, was one of the athletes staring in this content.

“It was kind of weird because there was a collective set of athletes, and we all recorded that video back in the summer, and then it was like there was nothing else from BLVD,” Fields said.

In less than six months, the University would cut ties with this NIL entity, and many athletes were left without support to secure sponsorships or deals while the era for college athlete promotions began.

Name, Image and Likeness— also known as the “right to publicity”— was legalized for student-athletes competing within the National Collegiate Athletics Association on June 21, 2021, when the Supreme Court unanimously ruled the NCAA cannot limit athletes’ compensation.

Since this ruling third party entities known as “collectives” have popped up at universities around the country. Whether for-profit, not-for-profit, or non-profit in label, these organizations claim to pool donor or investor money to facilitate NIL deals for student-athletes. BLVD was the first collective officially recognized by USC, but according to Fields the connections didn’t follow.

“As athletes we’re like, this is USC like, we’re supposed to have all this stuff, have all these connections, and people to be able to do these things for us,” Fields said. “But it’s just a slow process.”

Fields ultimately negotiated her own NIL deals. With sponsored content from Move Soles and a fitness equipment company called McDavid, she highlighted her engagement on social media in negotiations on top of her standing as a Division I athlete.

Branding or marketability have been the key factors for women college athletes in securing NIL deals. Multiple national surveys studying NIL collectives show these entities are overwhelmingly investing in men’s sports— particularly men’s football and basketball.

OpenDorse, an online NIL marketplace for athletes, released a 2022 report in January analyzing how NIL compensation is distributed to women athletes. Brands were found to make up 91.7% of the buyer segment for women athletes, and 34% of collectives have engaged in women’s sports.

This April, the college sports news outlet and NIL data aggregator On3 surveyed 23 collectives across the country and found women make up an average of 23% of NIL collectives’ partners.

The distinction between donor-backed and brand-endorsed NIL money boils down to work required. Athletes must consider marketing materials and presentation when working with a sponsor, while donor partnerships may not carry explicit content-creation or storytelling tasks.

“It’s disappointing to see the lack of investment from collectives in women athletes when we see just how successful they can become not only from their follower count, but the money that they’re bringing in” said Shannon Scovel, a Journalism PhD candidate at the University of Maryland.

Scovel researches how women athletes are represented in the media for their business deals and social media presence. Media outlets’ NIL value estimates based on athletes’ roster position versus brand visibility can affect how brands see investment potential.

On3’s NIL valuation tracker for USC exemplifies this trend.

*Sourced from On3 NIL Tracker

Note the gender disparity.

According to Andy Wittry, a NIL and sports business reporter for On3, the valuation is an algorithmically-calculated number factoring in athletes’ sport, social media engagement and university branding. Some high-ranking football athletes on the outlet’s NIL valuation chart don’t even have public social media presences, but football’s popularity in the donor marketplace makes up for it.

“For a lot of male athletes their value and their financial opportunities, it’s just tied to their athletic prowess,” Wittry said. “Because you’re good at football or because you’re good at men’s basketball or baseball or whatever sport, that that gives you value. Where a lot of the traditional brand deals [are], it’s for your role as a brand ambassador or as a spokesperson. That’s more tied to the person, and how marketable are you and what is your social media following. That’s where a lot of women have to do more work.”

*Sourced from On3 NIL Tracker

Balancing practices, workouts and a full class schedule, some student-athletes cannot afford to seek out deals themselves or record content. For lesser-known sports such as water polo or lacrosse, negotiating for notoriety can fall heavily on a student-athlete without the support of a collective or business consultant.

“It was hard to reach out to companies as a kind of ask like, ‘Oh, can you sponsor me? And I’ll post and you send me free stuff?’” Grace Tehaney, a senior driver on the USC water polo team said. “That’s very awkward. And for other athletes, they get more opportunities, especially male athletes.”

Tehaney did not know about BLVD, or other collective options since made available to student athletes.

Just this spring, three new collectives were announced aiming to partner with USC athletes. One, named The Tommy Group, was founded by ex-pro footballer Keshawn Johnson and five other high-powered USC alumni. According to the group’s founding announcement, these entrepreneurs and investors came together over “a profound appreciation for the USC football community.” The group launched with an event at the supper club Delilah— a property of one of the investors, John Terzian.

Junior quarterback and Heisman winner Caleb Williams alongside football head coach Lincoln Riley and several other teammates attended the event. According to the same founding press release, The Tommy Group now works with Williams and the football roster.

USC Football, despite losing the Pac-12 Championship and the Goodyear Cotton Bowl, remains the top-earning NIL team on campus. Tehaney’s water polo team competed in the 2022 National Championship and won the 2021 NCAA title.

“Even though we are ranked number one, we have won multiple national championships, we don’t get any of the hype of all the other sports that are below,” Tehaney said. “I don’t think that saying, ‘Oh, yeah, I’m part of the U.S. Women’s water polo team or ranked number one in the nation…’ I don’t think people respect it as much.”

Women’s college athletics is seeing a period of high growth. The 2023 Women’s March Madness final game averaged 9.92 million viewers— a new ratings record. Louisiana State University women’s basketball games and gymnastics meets are selling out— due in part to the popularity of athletes like basketball forward Angel Reese and gymnast Olivia Dunne.

According to Scovel, the NIL market gap between men and women athletes reflects a broader underestimate of women’s sports.

“We’ve seen that investment can inspire audience interest,” Scovel said. “They could tap into this sort of untapped market and be proactive in the space. We know that there are models of this working, So now I think it’s just a matter of getting that message out there that investing in women is a is a profitable business decision.”