Led by Collectives, Year 3 of NIL To Reach $1.17B Market

The third year of the name, image, and likeness era could yield a market of up to $1.17 billion, according to a projection from NIL company Opendorse, up from about $1 billion in the second year.

Opendorse projects that this coming year will again be dominated by NIL collectives, the groups of boosters and donors who pool resources to help athletes at a particular school.

Opendorse has counted more than 200 collectives nationwide — 122 for Power 5 schools, 54 for Group of 5 and Big East schools, and 43 schools for the rest of Division I. 

Over the past year, three-quarters of the NIL market revenue derived from collective dollars.

Power 5 football players receive an average of $7,262 for each collective activity they complete. Men’s basketball players receive $4,929, and women’s basketball players receive $2,070. 

Non-Power 5 collectives are more interested in investing in men’s basketball players than football players. Group of 5 men’s basketball players average $3,089 per activity compared with $1,093 for football players. Non-FBS D-I men’s basketball players average $1,928 per activity, compared with $1,560.

Opendorse predicted that next year, a competitive NIL collective in the top tier of Power 5 schools will need to commit an average of $10 million to players, with “middle of the pack” Power 5 collectives offering between $5 million-$10 million. 

The low end of Power 5 schools, as well as the upper end of Group of 5 schools, will need to offer $1 million-$5 million.