Most NIL Deals Pay Less Than a Used Honda
The big picture
Earlier this week, I was at Zero Gravity in Burlington with a friend (espresso and waffles—if you know, you know) when he asked what it's been like being in the middle of "all that NIL money."
His tone was half-curious, half-judgmental. He assumed all of the athletes we're watching in the College Football Playoff are all making millions.
I had to break the news: The median NIL deal is $60.
Not $60,000. Sixty dollars.
Why it matters
The chasm between perceived NIL wealth and reality is a poison and making it much more difficult to achieve a sustainable NIL (and college sports) ecosystem.
Brands assume athletes expect six-figure deals—so they don't make the call at all
Universities field parent complaints about "all this money" while most of their athletes have earned less than a textbook stipend
The public resents athletes for wealth that doesn't exist, eroding the goodwill that should be present in college sports
By the numbers
Per-deal value Average $5,594
Per-deal value Median $60
Total athlete earnings Average $30,735
Total athlete earnings Median $1,031
The average is skewed by outliers. The median tells the truth.
The big picture
Headlines about $7 million quarterback deals aren't lies—they're statistical anomalies presented as norms. For every quarterback in the CFP, there are thousands of athletes whose total NIL earnings are spending money for dinner or going to the moview.
This isn't just a PR problem. It's a strategy problem. When decision-makers operate on fiction, they make bad bets—brands overpay or don't engage, schools under-resource NIL education, and athletes undervalue real opportunities because they don't match the hype.
The bottom line
Don't be fooled by headlines.
If you're a brand: The market is far more accessible than you think.
If you're a university: Your athletes need expectation calibration.
If you care about college sports: A sustainable NIL future requires decisions based on fact, not fiction.
*Compensation data come from the NCAA's NIL Assist Data Dashboard, 1/1/25-12/31/25.
About Bill Carter
Bill has advised brands on Name, Image, Likeness for 25 years—first in pro sports, now at the college level. He was the Co-Founder of the Gen Z sports agency Fuse, which he sold in 2019. In 2020, he founded Student-Athlete Insights and consults on NIL strategy with Fortune 500 companies and 30+ DI universities. Read more about Student-Athlete Insights.
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