In Reply to: A coach, as I understand it …. posted by mikeo on July 28, 2025 at 06:59:26
Football and men’s basketball athletes capture the overwhelming majority of NIL earnings, while women athletes and athletes on nonrevenue teams fight for a marginal share of the market.
Industry data shows that nearly 80 percent of NIL dollars flow to male athletes, particularly in football and men’s basketball. Female athletes, even those with notable athletic success or strong social media presences, remain vastly underrepresented in the NIL economy.
Structural factors reinforce this disparity. Booster-backed NIL collectives, which pool financial resources to support athletes, heavily favor men’s sports. Corporate sponsorships and media deals mirror historical inequities, channeling investment into male-dominated programs while relegating women’s teams to the periphery. Visibility begets value, and in a marketplace where women’s sports still struggle for equitable media exposure, the playing field remains far from level.