Student-Athletes' NIL Survey Results for February 2022
Last week, I completed a study of 1,100 DI student-athletes. The focus was on Name, Image, and Likeness activities, goals, expectations, and more. Here are a few key takeaways.
Social Media Dominates
Social Media is continuing to dominate the types of NIL activities that student-athletes are doing. But there is a little more to it than meets the eye. The kinds of social media activities can be further segmented into three types: 1) "social media influencers" where a brand pays a student-athlete to post content, 2) a student-athlete's use of social media to promote their own brand or merchandise, or 3) the use of social media like Cameo to sell content directly to consumers.
Non-Revenue Sports Are Gaining Traction
There is no question that football student-athletes are seeing the most NIL opportunities. But the opportunities for non-revenue sport athletes are creeping upwards (in comparison to my previous studies) and account for nearly 50% of the total. Women's volleyball is holding steady at the #2 position.
Deal Size
The average compensation per student-athlete per activity was $650 (a slight increase sine my last survey.) Not as promising is the fact that the rate of "in-kind" deals rose dramatically.