As college basketball returns to the spotlight, superstar players continue to capitalize on a growing array of name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals. These deals have transformed college sports by allowing athletes to build their own brands and connect further with fans. Here’s a snapshot of the top four men’s and women’s college players—ranked by total endorsement deals—who dominate both on the court and in brand partnerships.

Top College Basketball Players by Endorsements

Women

1. Flau’jae Johnson (17 deals)
A powerhouse on and off the court, the LSU star guard’s endorsement portfolio includes major brands like JBL, Tinder, Tampax, Puma, and Cox Communications. Known for her dynamic presence and broad appeal, Johnson’s partnerships showcase how her influence extends beyond basketball to the entertainment, sports, and lifestyle sectors.

2. Paige Bueckers: (17 deals)
UConn’s standout shooting guard has inked deals with a diverse array of blockbuster brands like Nike, CVS Pharmacy, CeraVe, Dunkin’, and Verizon—reflecting her popularity and appeal to a wide range of fans and consumers.

3. Juju Watkins (14 deals)
The USC sophomore sensation is building a sponsorship stable that already stands at 14 partnerships—including AT&T, Celsius, NerdWallet, Nike, Wells Fargo, and Gatorade. She has also generated more than 600K in total branded engagement on social media in the last 12 months (the highest of the female athletes on our list). 

4. Jada Williams (14 deals)
Having partnered with brands like Beats by Dre, Bumble, Jansport, Spalding, and Walmart, the Arizona Wildcats guard—still only a sophomore—is playing to win in the fast-growing NIL landscape.

Men

1. RJ Davis (22 deals)
The UNC superstar guard’s broad, multifaceted appeal has propelled him to the top of the men’s list. His robust roster of NIL partnerships spans notable brands from apparel to fast food to gaming, including Fortnite, JBL, Reebok, Taco Bell, and TurboTax. 

2. Trace Young (17 deals)
Entering his second season at LSU after transferring from Colorado State, the Texas-born guard partners with high-profile brands like Amazon Prime Video, Powerade, Ritz Crackers, Steve Madden, and Unagi, among others. 

3. Mark Sears (6 deals)
A point guard for the Alabama Crimson Tide, Sears takes a targeted approach to his partnerships, focusing on lifestyle and casual brands including Cellucor, Daps, HeyDude, Party Wow, and Raising Cane’s. 

4. Cooper Flagg (6 deals)
A rising star who’s been called the NBA’s latest once-in-a-generation prospect, the Duke freshman has already landed partnerships with New Era, New Balance, Gatorade, Cort Furniture, and SLAM (with many more lucrative deals likely to follow). 

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SponsorUnited was featured in a CBS Sports article covering the anticipated impact of Caitlin Clark and the 2024 WNBA rookie class. According to our data, Reese and her LSU teammate Flau'jae Johnson—both who played in the Elite Eight game that attracted 12.3M viewers—lead NIL athletes in follower growth. Additionally, Reese, former Stanford star Cameron Brink, and Johnson topped Clark in the number of NIL deals secured.

The analysis suggests that this rookie class has the potential to reshape the commercial landscape of the WNBA. With their strong fan engagement and impressive NIL portfolios, these athletes are poised to attract new brand partnerships and investments, driving the league and its players growth.

In this latest Marketing Brew article, SponsorUnited’s Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) 2023–24 report was highlighted noting the increasingly equitable distribution of NIL deals between male and female college athletes. 52% of the top 100 athletes based on the number of NIL deals in the last 12 months are women, compared to 48% men—a significant shift from the 38% women and 62% men split in 2022. This change marks a pivotal development in sports marketing, driven largely by the growth in volleyball and softball, where the number of top 100 athletes doubled from six in 2022 to 12 in 2023.

SponsorUnited’s analysis emphasizes the increasing value brands place on female athletes, especially in sectors like health, wellness, fashion, and beauty. This shift towards gender parity in NIL deals is not only a testament to the rising influence of female athletes, but also to the broader industry’s recognition of the unique opportunities they offer for brand partnerships. As NIL deals continue to evolve, the equal distribution in 2023 signals a promising future for women in sports marketing.

Shohei Ohtani’s groundbreaking 10-year, $700 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers is a literal game-changer that’s poised to reshape the sponsorship landscape within both the National League (NL) West and baseball at large. 

One of the most noteworthy trends to emerge during Ohtani's six-year tenure with the Los Angeles Angels: the surge in Japanese brands investing in backstop signage, not only at Angel Stadium but also at rivals’ ballparks.

More than 25 Japanese brands partnered with the Angels to advertise behind the plate during the 2023 season—over half of the team’s total behind-the-plate sponsors—as they moved to align themselves with one of baseball's most dynamic talents, and connect with Japanese viewers tuning in to see “Shotime” in action. 

Ohtani's star power reverberated far beyond LA, as teams in the American League (AL) West seized the opportunity to capitalize on heightened exposure in the Japanese market. The Texas Rangers, Seattle Mariners, and Oakland A's saw Japanese backstop ads nearly double in 2023 when Ohtani graced their home fields—underscoring Ohtani’s global influence and outsize commercial appeal across Major League Baseball.

As Ohtani’s move to the Dodgers continues to make headlines worldwide, will the NL West ballparks see a similar influx of Japanese backstop ads? Our data reveals that Japanese brands favor backstop rotating signage during Ohtani's time on the mound and at bat to maximize exposure—a trend that’s virtually guaranteed to gain momentum as his profile reaches new heights with the Dodgers, a big-market team that’s boasted the highest attendance in the league for ten consecutive years and counting. The Angels ranked second by number of backstop ads last season, while the Dodgers were among those with the fewest, thanks to a more selective approach. Time will tell how the “Ohtani Effect” will impact sales of this asset at Dodgers Stadium in 2024.  

After adding a staggering 5M followers in the last nine months, Ohtani, who earned a reported $40M in endorsements this year, has cemented his status as the most followed MLB player on Instagram, with 6.5M—almost double the followers of the New York Yankees, the most followed MLB team. With his star sure to keep rising—and his sponsorship earnings expected to grow sizeably with his move—watch this space for more deal news as brands race to partner with this once-in-a-generation athlete.

The NFL season kicked off in LA with a Bills win over the Rams. Checkout the NFL star's with commercial appearances during TNF broadcast on NBC:

• Head & Shoulders x Patrick Mahomes & Troy Polamalu

• SiriusXM x Larry Fitzgerald

• Frito-Lay x Josh Allen

• Subway x Patrick Mahomes

• Subway x Rob Gronkowski

• SoFi x Justin Herbert

• DirecTV x Dak Prescott, Ceedee Lamb

• State Farm x Patrick Mahomes

• Sleep Number x Dak Prescott

• Little Caesars x Matthew Stafford

#endorsements

While athlete endorsements can be traced back decades, pro sports players deals have only just doubled in the last three years. One primary reason is the increase in brands seeing value in working with athletes, and the impact of social media might also play a small role in this staggering jump. There has been a 55% increase in total brands doing deals over the last three years, up to 1,816 brands with deals across professional athletes in the 5 Major Pro Sports (MLB, MLS, NBA, NFL, NHL).

Player performance and social media growth can be pinned as the biggest factors tied to player deals. As one or both go up, so do the number of brands looking to partner.

No surprise, the apparel category has three of the top five brands ranked by endorsement deals. Nike, adidas and Jordan Brand come in at 1, 3 & 5 respectively. Within the emerging category of Crypto & FinTech, FTX, Cash App & Crypto.com all expanded their athlete portfolio with five or more athlete endorsements.

Instagram is the most popular social media platform for brands. With new features allowing consumers to purchase with just a click, brands are storming the platform with their athlete endorsements in tow. And while it may appear that all your favorite athletes have multiple deals, there’s still 64% of professional athletes (across the 5 Major Pro Sports) that have zero.

Almost ⅓ of all athletes with at least 1 endorsement deal, actually have 3 or more. While only 18% of brands with 1 player deal actually have 3 or more. Eight of the top 10 athletes in terms of total endorsements come from within the NFL, however, Karl-Anthony Towns of the Minnesota Timberwolves, is tied for the #1 spot with Aaron Jones in terms of most endorsement deals across the Major 5.

On the final day of the NBA trade deadline, the Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers pulled off a blockbuster deal trading James Harden for Ben Simmons among other players.

Simmons, who hasn't played this year, still ranks #10 in the NBA in total endorsement deals and has outperformed Harden in terms of branded post engagement, with almost 1% of his total followers liking/sharing/commenting on posts where he promotes a brand. Playing has its benefits, however, as Harden has grown his follower base by 129% this year, compared to 9% by Simmons.

According to SponsorUnited data, Nike and adidas lead the way in terms of sponsorship deals with NBA athletes. Similar to the overall NBA, the two brands battle back and forth to land more deals. In this instance, adidas has landed Harden while Nike has Simmons. BodyArmor, a Harden partner, and Verizon, a Simmons partner, both also are in the top 7 in terms of sponsorship deals while Verizon edges out BodyArmor narrowly.

Karl-Anthony Towns leads the way in the NBA with 16 endorsement deals followed by Trae Young with 13 followed by Jayson Tatum with 12. Lebron James has the most total social followers in the league north of 185 million with Steph Curry behind him over 60 million. Although Bron may take the lead in followers, Curry has a .91% engagement rate while Bron's is .38%.

Opening Ceremonies for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games took place today. Spotlighted are endorsement deals for some of the top competitors from around the world competing in the games.

Alexis Pinturault from France competes in his 3rd Winter Olympics as an alpine skier. Pinturault has 14 partnerships across 10 categories, including deals with Red Bull, Agence, Zoom, and Bollé.

Congratulations to Tom Brady on a Hall of Fame career ending with 7 Super Bowl rings and being one of the greatest QB’s to ever play the game.

Brady finished his career having 14 endorsement deals while aggressive pursuing the Cryptocurrency and NFT space signing a deal with FTX and creating NFT platform Autograph.

NFL Conference Playoffs are taking place this weekend. The remaining NFL teams are only 1 win away from making it to the Super Bowl as the Chiefs host the Bengals, and the Rams host the 49ers in the NFL Conference Championship games this weekend.

Today's Lineup highlights 1 player from each of the teams with the most endorsement deals. Travis Kelce leads all athletes playing on Sunday with over 26 partnerships, edging out his super-star QB teammate, Patrick Mahomes, who has 22 deals. Kelce has deals with HyVee, Bud Light, Aaron, Sachs & Associates & Club Carwash.