As NCAA Final Four Approaches, Women Athletes Redefine NIL Success

Forbes

02-04-2025

SPOKANE, WASHINGTON - MARCH 29: Paige Bueckers #5 of the Connecticut Huskies celebrates in the ... More fourth quarter against the Oklahoma Sooners in the Sweet Sixteen round of the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament at Spokane Arena on March 29, 2025 in Spokane, Washington. (Photo by)
The Final Four is set. South Carolina-Texas and Connecticut-UCLA will paint the canvas on Friday night, framed by the Championship game masterpiece on Sunday. Coming off a 40 point explosion from Paige Bueckers in the match up against Oklahoma, UConn looks to be firing on all cylinders. Three 2025 Wooden Award finalists will also be in action-Lauren Betts of #1 overall seed UCLA, Morgan Booker of Texas (the SEC Player of the Year) and Bueckers, who won the award as a freshman in 2021.
New data released today from Sponsor United demonstrates just how dominant top women athletes are in the NIL space. While the majority may focus on who takes home the trophy, this indicator showcases just how popular women athletes are in the NIL marketplace.
Alongside electric performances, the storytelling by both brands and players likely on display has led to soaring interest in spending on deals.
'Brands are getting smarter—and more strategic—about how they approach NIL. Some are going all-in on high-profile athletes to maximize exposure during marquee events like March Madness, while others are placing early bets on under-the-radar talent with big upside,' Bob Lynch, Founder and CEO of SponsorUnited told me.
'Whether it's a star player, scout team standout, or student manager, the common thread is that brands are leaning into storytelling, real-time relevance, and the cultural currency these athletes now carry. NIL has evolved from a test-and-learn phase into a core part of the sports marketing playbook.'
And the data tells the story. Take a look at what the Huskies' Bueckers has done.
Taking a Paige from Paige
When it comes to branded engagements between March 2024-March 2025, Bueckers led all high school and college athletes tracked from publicly available, athlete-controlled Instagram, Facebook, Twitter (X) and TikTok accounts. Five of the top ten are women's basketball players, including JuJu Watkins, the Cavinder Twins (University of Miami), and Azzi Fudd (UConn), who will return for the 2025-26 season.
'High brand integration potential' means a company feels a deep enough connection to the athlete that they can begin to tell stories. Think State Farm and Caitlin Clark. Gatorade and JuJu Watkins. Their professional brand affiliations have moved beyond a social media post.
Lynch attributes some of the attention on specific players to 'how long they've been in the eye of the public'. Emerging research is showing that women spend more time on their social platforms curating their own story; thus, 'what we've found is a lot of brands are trying to go on offense, trying to find athletes that align with a brand's 'ethos' of what they're doing in the marketplace'.
Women Soar in Social
When it comes to 'Branded Posts' aligning with athletes, Instagram is the dominate tool for (see chart below):
When it comes to 'Branded Engagement' with products, TikTok leads the way in both Food and Consumer Products categories. Instagram comes in a relatively close second, but Twitter (X) and Facebook are nearly out of the race.
The TikTok Opportunity
Why do top athletes on these social platforms do so well? Examining the top 150 posts amongst the most 'engaging' athletes feature similar patterns, including:
Women are 75% of the top 150 most engaged social media content creators.
The other value add the women's game brings is the WNBA's requirement that athletes remain in college longer than men's game-it gives players a longer runway to develop as a known quantity.
Depending on individual performances this weekend, we could see new breakout stars emerge, including Connecticut freshman Sarah Strong, who was outstanding in the game against USC. What could her NIL numbers look like in a year? Trending upwards.
Most Engaged-what do athletes do well?