Report: UNC's RJ Davis, USC's JuJu Watkins have most NIL deals
North Carolina's RJ Davis and USC's JuJu Watkins led all male and female athletes, respectively, in total endorsements over the past year, according to the report.
Davis, third on the ACC's all-time scoring list, garnered 25 NIL deals over the last 12 months, finishing ahead of Arizona punter Cash Peterman (21), 2024 Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter (19) and Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers and LSU basketball's Trace Young (17 each) for the men.
In women's college sports, the top five athletes with the most NIL deals over the past year are all basketball players.
Watkins -- the Big Ten Player of the Year who suffered a season-ending ACL injury in the second round of the Women's NCAA Tournament -- had 20 NIL agreements, topping the combined 18 deals between basketball twins Haley and Hanna Cavinder from the University of Miami. UConn's Paige Bueckers and Oregon's Deja Kelly had 16 apiece, according to the report, while LSU's Flau'jae Johnson landed 15.
Per SponsorUnited, NIL has evolved into a $1 billion business since launching nearly four years ago. Basketball has certainly played a major role in that growth.
"Basketball consistently dominates NIL deals because it perfectly combines visibility, personality and cultural impact," SponsorUnited CEO Bob Lynch told ESPN, saying the sport "resonates on a massive scale."
In addition, the new report showed the ever-growing marketability of female athletes, especially in basketball, as they perform better than their male counterparts on social media in terms of follower count and engagement. Bueckers, for example, has added around 3 million followers on social media within the past year, one million more than any male athlete.
According to the report, eight of the top 10 athletes in terms of audience engagement were women.
"Businesses are realizing that investing in women's sports is a good business decision," Shannon Scovel, a former Division I swimmer and professor who studies sports and media at the University of Tennessee, told ESPN. "There's been this perception that the only sports that can make money for businesses are certain men's sports. And women's sports have now shown that if you invest in them, you'll get a return on investment."
Tracked NIL deals have increased by just 1% compared to the previous year, with technology and nonalcoholic beverages' deals driving the most growth in the past year and retail and apparel brands seeing a decrease.
--Field Level Media
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