New Name, Image, and Likeness laws in the NCAA allow collegiate athletes to build their personal brands no matter their sport or gender, promoting opportunity, diversity, and inclusion in the collegiate sport space. Or so we hope.

 

What is NIL? NCAA rules are changing regarding athletes pay. Here’s what it all means.

Following a Supreme Court ruling in June of this year, laws prohibiting collegiate athletes from profiting off their Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) drastically changed.

It is now legal for student athletes to monetize their NIL, based on the individual guidelines of their states and colleges.

Prior to this new ruling, it wasn’t permissible for NCAA athletes to make money off their NIL. Simply put, any money that a student athlete made, or gifts they received, could not be for the reasons of them being an athlete, or for playing their sport at their specific college or University.

But finally, things are different. As of July, student athletes can now profit off their NIL, meaning they can accept brand endorsements, use their social media as a tool to make money, and join platforms like Obsesh to monetize their skills and knowledge in their sport.

If you’re a collegiate athlete, you have an opportunity to build and make money off your personal brand, no matter your gender, school, sport, or skill level. This includes the student athlete’s NIL rights to endorsements, merchandising rights, autographs, coaching, training, tips, advice, and even memorabilia. Got those old Nike Air Jordan’s in the closet? Dust them off, put a bit of artistry to them, and list them for sale!

It is important for all student athletes to fully understand these new rules. If you are a collegiate athlete, your school is required to inform you of your NIL rights. Make sure to not overlook this information, as it could come in handy now or in the future. For a full summary and timeline of NIL laws, head to the NCAA website.

Read More below to learn about how these laws benefit all types of athletes, especially women.

How do I start making money off my NIL? Obsesh makes it easy for you and gives you the tools to start in 10 minutes. Here’s how you can lean in and start cashing in.

Under these new rulings, the endorsement potential for student athletes is high. When taking into account endorsement potential based on sport, skill level, and social media reach, many collegiate athletes have the opportunity to make as much as top professional athletes. Check out this article on AthleticDirectorU for a full breakdown of student athlete endorsement potential.

The simplest path is by building your marketplace profile to start selling on Obsesh. At Obsesh, our core mission is to help you make money off your image and athletic skills. As an Obsesh athlete host, your job is to help Consumers learn from you — and its all delivered through personalized training video messages delivered within 7 days of the booking. The only thing required is your smartphone and skills. After an Athlete delivers their video message to the buyer, payment is automatically sent to your bank. Click here to learn more about how you can turn your skills into a business!

Another great way to go about building your brand is through social media. Turn your brand into followers and your followers into cash, by consistently building your influential accounts and reaching out to brands for endorsements and partnerships. Watch out for social media companies promising the world of cash. That ship never docked over the last ten years, as we all hoped.

Social media is a great equalizer when it comes to building your endorsement potential, and many collegiate female athletes have already proved this. Take the Cavinder twins, for example, two female basketball players at Fresno State, who became the first athletes to join a brand partnership under the new NIL rulings. The sisters have used their social media reach as a way to engage with their fans, monetize their careers, and countless other athletes are beginning to do the same. Furthermore, against popular belief, you don’t need a huge following to start looking for brand partnerships. In fact, many brands rank engagement higher on their priorities on your social media, rather than the number of followers you have, and they may actually prefer “micro-influencers” who have quality relationships with their followers, rather than a large quantity. Your engagement rate with your followers is your magic sauce. Test yours by seeing if you have more engagement than Kim Kardashian (2.14% last I looked!). Jump in and be active with your followers and it will be noticed!

NIL laws also open the door for opportunities beyond social media. Student athletes can now host camps, get paid for appearances or autographs, and sell their personal brands or art.

Saying it’s an “exciting time” for collegiate athletes is quite an understatement. You now have the power to make money doing what you know best and love most, and Obsesh is here to help you do it.

 

What does NIL mean for female, DII, and DIII athletes?

It means more diversity, inclusion, and opportunity than ever before. Whether you’re the star of your team at a well-known University, or a newcomer at a lesser-known college, you can build and monetize your personal brand.

Making money off your NIL means building and growing your personal small business that revolves around far more than your athletic ranking and gender.

Every year, more than 50,000 amazing women play collegiate sports! There are so many ways for you to share your talent, competitive drive, values, and passion with the world. NIL assists you in sharing YOUR story, experiences, and expertise in ways that feel personal and authentic. If you’re a female collegiate athlete, consider joining Obsesh. We are a female founded company and prioritize female athlete empowerment.

At Obsesh, we believe that the new NIL rulings make the collegiate sports market more balanced and create better opportunities for female and niche sport athletes. Male collegiate sports receive millions more dollars in scholarship money each year from Universities than female sports, and at the professional level, it’s no secret that there is a massive gender pay gap. NIL laws give female athletes more control in monetizing their careers, and open up opportunities for equal pay across the collegiate sports marketplace.

NIL laws give all athletes the ability to profit off their knowledge and talent in their sports, and in fact, has the potential to equalize opportunities across genders, sports, and skill levels.

 

Interested in monetizing your skills and knowledge as an athlete while connecting with fans?

Obsesh is here to help you do so! Become an Obsesh athlete and make money by sending custom video messages to fans. It’s both easy, enjoyable, and fully in compliance with the NCAA. Join hundreds of other NCAA athletes who have signed up with Obsesh.

To learn more about how you can enroll and start profiting off your NIL as a collegiate athlete, head to Obsesh for NCAA.

We invite all female NCAA athletes to explore Obsesh — go ahead and give it a try! Discover & book an athlete today to level up from your phone, then apply to start building your own business.