Women's Basketball Stars' Name, Likeness and Image Brands Carrying Over Into the WNBA
'NIL man it is beautiful,' Johnson said. 'This year in March Madness I had about five commercials running and you know it was so cool watching the game then seeing myself come on. It's just a great opportunity.' Johnson is a guard at LSU, one of the top schools for NIL in a variety of sports from football to women's gymnastics to women's basketball. Johnson, who also has a music career, has gained from the exposure the school has given her doing national media campaigns with Experian and Powerade.
Hildago, who will be entering her junior year at Notre Dame, is happy that players can finally profit off their own images as opposed to the school getting it all. 'It's a blessing. Schools for decades have been able to make money off of college players' names. So for now for student athletes to be able to make money off of how they carry themselves you know were a brand ourselves,' she said. 'I'm a brand myself and so be able to make money off of my name is honestly truly a blessing and just taking advantage of it is the biggest thing.' Johnson, Hidalgo, and Miles, who helped the US qualify for the World Cup next year by winning gold at the AmeriCup earlier this month, all said that they don't let the NIL deals they have get in the way of their sport. They credit having a strong support system around them as well as people who handle the deals for them. 'I really dedicate one or two times a week to kind of get all my stuff done,' Miles said. 'My agent is very good at scheduling that but most of my money comes from the collective deal so for that I really don't have to do much which is nice. But any other of the other side deals my agent will send a videographer out to help me or have her edit stuff or whatever it may be.'
Getting deals and earning money hasn't just helped the players financially. Some have given back to their communities including Johnson. 'I just want to be one of those people that uses NIL the right way,' she said. 'This year I did a campaign with Experian and we relieved 5 million in debt right for families in Louisiana and then every game we won we added 100000 to the pot.' Johnson said it was really touching and emotional when she would receive videos on Instagram from people she helped. 'I'm really using my platform for impact for real. So I think that's the best part of NIL and just making it better for the young girls that's coming behind us,' she said.
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