Vanderbilt kicker Sarah Fuller, the first woman to play in a Power 5 football game, is neither the first non-man to play organized football nor the first to suit up for an FBS college football game. 

But Fuller’s textbook squib kick, coupled with the usual significant attention awarded to Power 5 football and a social media explosion, makes her a marquee example of a college athlete with significant name, image and likeness earning potential. 

Fuller’s Brand Grows

In 2021, rules allowing athletes to profit off their NIL will take effect. When they do, two types of athletes could capitalize on NIL, Octagon Executive Vice President David Schwab wrote to FOS. While some athletes covered regularly will profit, others like Fuller will gain NIL influence through “big spikes based on heroic or unique activities.”

• In five days, Fuller saw her following grow 17,478% on Twitter and 13,300% on Instagram, Opendorse found, and her Instagram post garnered more than double the likes of Vanderbilt’s posts. 
• She dominated the mainstream news cycle, receiving coverage from major outlets like Good Morning America and got Twitter love from figures like Hillary Clinton.
• The social media following of the non-profit she promoted also skyrocketed, and the organization got hundreds of donation and partnership inquiries, according to WKRN.

What’s more, Fuller’s potential NIL success echoes what many NIL observers believe: Women athletes wield significant brand power, even at the college level, and can greatly benefit financially from leveraging their NIL. “This weekend she would have been inundated with requests around her football debut,” Schwab said.

Future Opportunities

Fuller’s fame isn’t disappearing anytime soon, so she’ll likely be able to capitalize on NIL opportunities after graduation. Fuller told reporters she might hire an agent when NIL rules take effect, but that in the immediate future her focus remains on the field.

“I don’t think it is an overstatement to say that Sarah Fuller has put herself in the same category as Danica Patrick in terms of the number of brands who would want to align themselves with her if she had rights to her NIL,” Dustin Maguire, the founder of NameImageLikeness.com, wrote to FOS.

By now, several COVID-19 vaccines have been found to have success rates at or above 90% — meaning that a life raft for the college sports industry could rest on the horizon. But based on the existing vaccine timeline, programs will likely need to continue with strict COVID-19 precautions for another semester.

The Timeline

The Pfizer vaccine’s first doses could deploy in the U.S. in mid-December if approved by the FDA for emergency use. Amesh Adalja, a Johns Hopkins infectious disease specialist who served on the NCAA’s COVID-19 task force, gave FOS a tentative U.S. vaccine timeline if approved:

• The first doses in December will go to healthcare workers.
• In March and April, the country might be “in the middle” of vaccinating some elderly or otherwise vulnerable people. It won’t be “completely safe” to hold games, but this could help immunize older coaches or players with respiratory conditions.
• Low-risk members of the general population, like many college athletes, won’t have access until “well into 2021.” This means April to July, Dr. Fauci told USA TODAY.

The NCAA’s plan to move men’s March Madness to a single-region event appears prudent if they insist on playing in March.

Long Term View

If enough people aren’t vaccinated by fall 2021 — or the public isn’t comfortable with mass gatherings — ticket revenue could continue to suffer and cause more layoffs even if sponsorship and media rights return to normal. Fortunately, Fauci told Yahoo Sports that packing a football stadium in fall 2021 is “possible.”

As the storied UConn women’s basketball team sat out due to a positive COVID-19 test, the men’s team played their first games after officially rejoining the Big East. The conference move would provide “a much-needed jolt,” men’s coach Dan Hurley told reporters in October.

But while UConn’s Big East return will pay dividends on the court, previous deficits and the pandemic will likely keep the program from immediately improving ailing finances.

Previous Budget Woes

The program suffered consecutive deficits — including a $42 million shortfall in 2019, the Hartford Courant found. Karen Weaver, a college sports finance expert at the University of Pennsylvania, described UConn’s recent finances to FOS as “one calamity after another,” especially regarding football. Weaver attributes some failings to:

• The cost of numerous coaching contract buyouts in attempts to improve the football team.
• Massive travel expenses in the sprawling AAC.

UConn athletics didn’t respond to an emailed interview request.

Ugly Pandemic Picture

Weaver believes UConn’s Big East revival could decrease travel costs, provide better basketball TV exposure, and allow the football team to earn game contracts and media revenue as an FBS independent. But here’s why UConn athletics might continue to suffer:

• The cost of the $17 million AAC exit fee, which UConn hasn’t fully paid, and a previously-paid $3.5 million Big East entrance fee.
• Lost NCAA March Madness distributions and football game contract and ticket revenue.
• No second COVID-19 stimulus package, which likely left the university without money to subsidize the athletic department this year, according to Weaver.