TRENDING: Led by Olivia Dunne and Angel Reese, LSU is getting the standard for athletes in Women’s Sports capitalizing on NIL deal.
Viewers saw what they wanted to see in this year’s NCAA women’s basketball title game. Fans saw a coronation for women’s sports: 9.9 million people, the tournament’s biggest audience ever and a 104% increase over 2022, watched LSU defeat Iowa.Pundits saw controversy: In the waning minutes of the game, Tigers star Angel Reese waved her hand over her face, which Hawkeyes star Caitlin Clark had done earlier in the tournament to another player, then pointed to her ring finger, where her championship jewelry would soon reside. She and Clark later became protagonists in a discussion of race—Reese is Black, Clark is white—and competitiveness in women’s sports
Reese saw a marketing opportunity. There was still red confetti in her hair when she perched at the edge of the court, clutching the trophy, and called to teammate Flau’jae Johnson’s mother, Kia Brooks, who handles Johnson’s endorsement deals: “Hey, Mama Kia! The price just went up.
In the two years since the NCAA, spurred by a variety of new state laws, allowed collegiate athletes to profit off their name, image and likeness, athletes have made nearly $2 billion, according to NIL platform Opendorse. Most of that cash has gone to football and men’s basketball players, especially through booster- and fan-led collectives.
Except at LSU, where all the biggest stars are women.
On3, which tracks NIL deals, ranks LSU gymnast Olivia Dunne as the No. 3 earner in the country—after only Bronny James and Shedeur Sanders, sons of star athletes LeBron and Deion—with an estimated valuation of $3.2 million; Reese eighth, with $1.7 million; and Johnson 19th, at $1.1 million. Those numbers are likely low; Johnson estimates her agreements run into “the mid-seven figures.” Regardless, they make LSU one of two schools, along with Texas, with three athletes in the top 25. With Hailey Van Lith—who announced in April that she was transferring to LSU from Louisville to play basketball and who ranks 79th at $550,000—the Tigers have four of the six female athletes in the On3 top 100
