Lebron James’ son Bronny got most of the headline play, but there’s another big story in the recent Nike NIL deal allowing college athletes to get paid. At a time of increased scrutiny about the pay gap between male and female athletes, the Nike deals show that female collegiate and amateur athletes are emerging as winners in the early days of the NIL era.
“I think it’s reflective of a broader movement that we’re seeing in sports. I think this is a reckoning, a slow reckoning, albeit, but a reckoning that there are more opportunities, more interest,” said Patrick Rishe, director of the sports business program at Washington University.
University of Iowa’s point guard Caitlin Clark, Stanford University’s guard Haley Jones and Sierra Canyon High School’s guard Juju Watkins are the three women’s basketball players signed to Nike’s newly finalized NIL endorsement deal, alongside Sierra Canyon High School’s point guard Bronny James and Camden High School’s guard DJ Wagner.
“I grew up watching Nike athletes across all sports play their game. They have inspired me to work hard and make a difference. I’m humbled to be part of this first Nike basketball class and passionate about inspiring the next,” said Clark in a Nike release.
Female sports success in early NIL era
Since the enactment of the NIL (name, image and likeness) structure to allow amateur athletes to seek endorsement deals, which came in July 2021 after a landmark Supreme Court decision, the hope was that female athletes would significantly benefit.
“I think most people knew that women athletes in particular were going to see great opportunities,” Rishe said.
Tracking deals from NIL’s execution through Sept. 30 of this year, women’s basketball ranked third-highest among NIL compensated sports, according to NIL technology company and marketplace Opendorse. With a total of 12.6% of NIL compensation going towards women’s basketball, the sport was only behind men’s basketball (18.9%) and football (49.6%).
Despite the big gap between NIL compensation for football players and all other athletes, Opendorse’s data shows potential for greater gains within women’s sports. Six women’s sports made the top 10 list for NIL compensated sports, and women’s basketball, volleyball and softball all beat out baseball, the third most profitable men’s sport.
The brands that we’re working with are very explicit about saying they want to make sure there is full representation in the athletes that they’re working with on a campaign. They specifically ask for diverse representation of athletes across multiple sports [and] equal representation of men and women,” said Lisa Bregman, Opendorse’s senior director of marketplace success.
Nike, which has a vast presence in college sports merchandising, has been investing more in the growth of the women’s apparel business through its college partnerships.
Both local and global brands see the potential in endorsing collegiate athletes, and even as lucrative deals with football players lead the way by a wide margin — 12 players have $1 million-plus deals and 50 players deals worth $500,000 or more, according to sports data firm On3 — there is a growing number of companies signing NIL deals with female athletes.
