Female athletes are capturing an unprecedented share of college sports marketing opportunities, with a new report showing explosive growth in name, image and likeness partnerships. College sports marketing company Learfield released data showing that female athlete participation in NIL activities surged 123% over the 2025-26 fiscal year, with engagement more than doubling from 2,136 athletes to 4,772.
The surge reflects a broader transformation in how brands view female college athletes. Solly Fulp, Learfield’s head of NIL, attributed the rapid growth to athletes’ marketing prowess. “What we’re discovering with female student-athletes and their engagement with our brands is they’re excellent content creators and storytellers, they’re generally social media savvy and they have a genuine brand enthusiasm,” Fulp said.
The growth marks a turning point in college athletics nearly five years after the NCAA approved NIL compensation in July 2021. Initially, male-dominated revenue sports like football and men’s basketball dominated earnings. But women’s sports are closing the gap quickly. Women’s basketball now ranks third among all sports in NIL earnings, while softball has cracked the top five, surpassing baseball.
Brands are approaching NIL deals with female athletes through diverse activation methods. According to Learfield’s report, partnerships most frequently involved production shoots, social media content, ambassador programs, public appearances and autograph sessions. Restaurants led all sponsor categories, followed by financial services, health care and business and professional services. Twenty-two national brands struck deals during the fiscal year, including Geico, SeatGeek, State Farm, EA Sports, Uber, AT&T and Marriott. More than 260 athletes across 69 schools were featured in these national campaigns.
The diversity of brand involvement reflects broader changes in how companies approach women’s sports partnerships. Beauty and lifestyle brands including Madison Reed and NYX Cosmetics have expanded aggressively into college NIL deals, moving beyond traditional sports apparel companies. Madison Reed, a hair-color brand, began partnering with the University of Connecticut and offers cash and stock options to female athletes on its “Team Color Wonder.” Jewelry company Gorjana announced a multi-year partnership with Arizona State University Sun Devil Athletics, with executives noting that “the intersection of sport and style is at an all-time high.”
The momentum behind women’s NIL reflects surging viewership and fan engagement with women’s college sports. Learfield’s data showed that women’s sports sponsorships have grown over 40% cumulatively over the last two years, with Nielsen research indicating that viewership of women’s sports overall is up more than 16% year over year. This increased visibility creates tangible value for brands seeking to reach younger, diverse audiences through female athletes.
Solly Fulp emphasized the market dynamics driving the surge. “It’s not just an emerging market now — it’s accelerating,” he said. “It’s awesome for us to see when it comes to not just the focus being on football, men’s basketball and the revenue sports, but seeing the Olympic sports really step front and center.”
The infrastructure supporting female athlete NIL deals has also evolved. Learfield reports that 70% of their NIL team members are either former student-athletes or former college administrators. The company employs 75 on-campus representatives who work directly with athletic departments to facilitate deals, with plans to expand to 100 employees. This on-campus presence has proven effective, with examples like Jenna Johnson, a former Alabama softball player, transitioning into a NIL Business Manager role at Vanderbilt where she has helped secure 146 NIL deals across 70 student-athletes in just her first year.
The growth in female athlete NIL participation comes amid broader expansion of women’s sports sponsorship globally. Industry reports show women’s sports sponsorship growing 17.5% year over year, more than 3.5 times faster than men’s leagues. Global women’s sports revenue reached $1.88 billion in 2024, nearly tripling from $692 million two years earlier, with commercial revenue surpassing $1 billion for the first time.
Brands are discovering competitive advantages in working with female college athletes. Learfield data indicates that positive brand impression from fans doubles when NIL is included in campaigns, growing from 52% with traditional sponsorship campaigns to 104% when student-athletes are featured. College athletes overall deliver significantly higher engagement rates compared to traditional influencers, with rates reaching 5.6% versus 1.9% for standard influencers as of early 2026.
The rapid evolution of the NIL space reflects changing attitudes toward monetization of female athletes. Women’s college athletes are proving that they possess the storytelling ability, social media sophistication and audience connection that brands actively seek. As viewership continues climbing and new categories of companies enter the space, industry observers expect female athlete NIL participation to maintain momentum, potentially reshaping how collegiate women’s sports generate revenue and visibility for their programs.