MARKETING WITH COLLEGE ATHLETES
Why Utilizing College Athletes for Your Marketing Campaigns is a Great Business Decision.
Who Follows Them
COLLEGE SPORTS FANS
Compared to the US population, college sports fans are:
- 1.6X more likely to have incomes higher than $100,000
- 59% more likely to have disposable monthly incomes of $7,500-$10,000
YOUNG AUDIENCE
“Reaching young people is tough, and the college-age student and their media habits have always been very different. College athletes help you connect with college students in a way that maybe some of the traditional influencers don’t.”
– Rob Master Vice President, Unilever
LOCAL COMMUNITY
“If you are trying to get into college-level niche followers — whether it’s the other students, or maybe the alumni or people in that locality — you now want to use those [college athletes] for their brand ambassadorship.”
-Robert Stern CEO, The Social Leader
Benefits Over Traditional Influencers
INHERENT QUALITIES
TRUST: You don’t become a D1 athlete without putting in a lifetime of work and an athlete’s fans know and respect that. Their followers inherently trust in products that he/she endorses since athletes can’t jeopardize their performance.
CREDIBILITY: A student-athlete’s large following is typically a result of success in their sport. This is a key difference from traditional influencers that gives them an unmatched authority in their fields and lends itself to exceptionally authentic partnerships.
ENGAGEMENT RATES
WIN WITH FANS
77% say brands spending money with college athletes is a great way to support them.
58% are more likely to respect a brand who sponsors college athletes.
UNDERSTAND THE MARKET
FIND COLLEGE ATHLETES TO PARTNER WITH
INDUSTRY INSIGHTS
Understand what universities are doing with NIL: partnerships, policies, programs, platforms, and more! Updated daily, NIL Network is home to the most comprehensive database of institutions and their NIL resources.