• Loading stock data...
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
2024 Best Venues nominations are open now through April 8! Submit Now

The Potential NIL Power of Sarah Fuller

  • If NIL rules had taken effect already, Sarah Fuller’s textbook squib-kick during the Vanderbilt - Missouri game could have brought her significant brand power.
  • Fuller “solidified” the idea that women athletes can make serious cash from NIL deals, said one expert.
Hunter Dyke/Handout Photo via USA TODAY Sports

Sarah Fuller’s textbook squib-kick to start the second half of the Nov. 28 game between Vanderbilt and Mizzou could have been more than just a historic moment — if college athlete name, image, and likeness rules had already taken effect, Fuller might have completed one of the most lucrative kickoffs in college sports history. 

That’s because Fuller’s achievement “has captured the attention of the nation, and this does not exclude the brands, who in the world of NIL, would be scrambling this week to sign her to endorsement deals,” Dustin Maguire, the founder of NameImageLikeness.com, wrote to Front Office Sports.

Fuller, the first woman to play in a Power 5 football game, is neither the first non-man to play football nor the first non-man to suit up for an FBS college football game. But Fuller’s kick, coupled with the usual significant attention awarded to Power 5 football and an explosion on social media, makes her a marquee example of a college athlete who would possess significant earning potential in the sponsorship and endorsement space. 

Right now, NCAA athletes are prohibited from profiting off the use of their NIL — but that’s set to change in 2021, when a Florida law legalizing the practice goes into effect and the NCAA plans to solidify its own NIL guidelines.

When the rules change, one of the most highly anticipated ways in which athletes will be able to profit off their NIL is through presenting products and endorsements to large social media followings. 

In the five or so days between the announcement of Fuller being added to the Vanderbilt football team, her social media following exploded: Fuller saw a whopping 17,478% growth on Twitter and 13,300% growth on Instagram, gaining 40,300 and 137,000 followers on each respective platform, according to Opendorse

Sports teams, leagues, and media outlets tagged her in posts, though her own Instagram post announcing she joined the football team earned double the likes of the Vanderbilt football teams’ post, Opendorse found.

What’s more, Fuller even harnessed mainstream media power. Stories sporting photos or footage of Fuller suiting up appeared on local and national television outlets and newspapers from The Wall Street Journal to Good Morning America. And stars from Adam Sandler to Hillary Clinton shared her story to millions. 

“This weekend she would have been inundated with requests around her football debut,” David Schwab, Octagon executive vice president, wrote to Front Office Sports.

Likely knowing she’d be in the spotlight, Fuller added the words “Play Like a Girl” to the back of her helmet, and tweeted before game day that the phrase referenced a non-profit helping girls “play sports and get exposure to STEM opportunities” called I Play Like a Girl. 

“Check it out,” she wrote, linking to the organization’s donation page.

I Play Like A Girl’s founder, Kimberley Clay, received hundreds of emails asking about donations and partnership opportunities in the aftermath of Fuller’s tweet, she told WKRN’s Emily Proud. The organization reported growth across LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram surrounding Fuller’s game, according to data provided to Front Office Sports. Content interaction on Instagram grew close to 4,000% in the past week compared to the week prior, for example. 

In general, Fuller’s potential NIL power represents one of two categories of athletes who could profit big when NIL deals become legal, Schwab said. 

One group has “a deep following and are in the highlights regularly locally and nationally,” while the group Fuller represents “will get big spikes based on heroic or unique activities they are part of,” he said.

While Fuller’s prowess as a Vanderbilt soccer goalie and SEC champion may have garnered her some NIL power before, her unique status as the first woman to play in a Power 5 football game makes her immensely more attractive to sponsors, Schwab noted.

man_holding_football

NIL Companies Forge Ahead Despite Undecided Regulations

Founders of college athlete NIL businesses said they’ve faced challenges navigating an…
October 21, 2020

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. 

Women athletes, like softball players or gymnasts, have a strong influence over young women and therefore have serious product marketing abilities, even if these sports in totality aren’t as lucrative as men’s basketball or football, Dionne Koller, a Title IX expert and sports law professor the University of Baltimore told Front Office Sports in August. “That stuff goes viral and pretty soon you can make a lot of money.”

After all, before Sarah Fuller, there was former viral UCLA gymnast Katelyn Ohashi. In 2019, popular videos of Ohashi’s floor routines, and her ensuing fame, “proved” that a market for women athletes in women’s sports does exist, Maguire said. Ohashi herself has been outspoken about the money she probably could have made while at UCLA if endorsement deals were legal in the NCAA at the time.

But also like Ohashi, Fuller has reached perhaps her peak NIL potential as a senior, so she probably won’t be around to capitalize on her NIL as a student when rules take effect in 2021.

However, Fuller hopefully would have “extended” the endorsement opportunities presented to her this week, Schwab said. So she may still be able to capitalize on endorsement deals after graduation if she chooses, as well as use her growing social media platform to continue to highlight companies and causes she finds important. 

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,” Maguire said.

Linkedin
Whatsapp
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

NIL in the Crosshairs As Debate Takes Over D.C.

Nick Saban was among the guests at an NIL roundtable this week.

Who Is the Highest-Paid Men’s College Basketball Coach?

Kansas’ Bill Self has been with the program for 20 years.
exclusive

New In-Season Men’s College Basketball Tournament to Offer $2M in NIL Deals

The eight-team event—expanding to 16 teams in 2025—will pay out $1M to each team, and another million to the winner.

Tommy Tuberville: Dartmouth Basketball Union ‘Will Absolutely Kill College Sports’

The U.S. senator and former college football coach let it rip on Fox News.
podcast thumbnail mobile
Front Office Sports Today

How ESPN Broadcasts the Most Unpredictable Tournament in Sports

0:00
0:00

Featured Today

‘Everybody Was Under Suspicion’: The Day Selection Sunday Was Scooped

In 2016, the ‘Selection Show’ backfired when the bracket was leaked anonymously.
Sep 3, 2023; Seattle, Washington, USA; Orlando Pride forward Ally Watt (11) and Orlando Pride forward Julie Doyle (20) enter the stadium before the game against OL Reign at Lumen Field.
March 16, 2024

So Long, White Shorts: Here’s Why the NWSL’s Uniform Pivot Matters

There’s finally a growing trend to adapt women’s sports to women’s bodies.
exclusive
March 11, 2024

WWE Prez Nick Khan, COO Brad Blum Revealed As Key Figures in Vince McMahon Sex-Trafficking Suit

The two men are described in the suit as facilitating and covering up exploitation.
March 10, 2024

For the ‘Spulu’ Super-Streamer: Lots of Questions, No Good Answers

Big partners, bigger promises, and an unclear operation.

Careers

Powered By

Careers in Sports

Looking for a new job? Check out these featured listings and search for openings all over the world.
Spotify
Multiple - USA Careers
Nike
Multiple - USA Careers
EA
Multiple - USA Careers
Feb 18, 2023; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Grambling State University Tigers guard Tra'Michael Moton (5) celebrates with guard Shawndarius Cowart (10) after making a basket against the Southern University Jaguars during overtime at the Jon M. Huntsman Center.

Yes, the First Four Matters. Here’s Why

The preliminary round of the NCAA tournament is nothing to sleep on.
March 18, 2024

The NCAA Might Have Screwed Itself Over With Iowa’s Tough Regional

Women’s basketball’s business buzz could be hindered by an early Iowa exit.
March 18, 2024

Dartmouth Refuses to Bargain With Newly Formed Men’s Basketball Player Union

The school hopes a lengthy, two-pronged appeals process will stop the union.
Sponsored

How Daily Fantasy Sports Solved NBA Fantasy

The remarkable growth of the #1 Discord sports server in the world.
St. John's Red Storm head coach Rick Pitino paces the sidline in the second half of a college basketball game between the St. John's Red Storm and the Xavier Musketeers, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024, at Cintas Center in Cincinnati. The Xavier Musketeers won, 88-77.
March 18, 2024

March Sadness? NCAA Tournament Snubs Leave New Round of Scars

Several coaches, and a U.S. senator, lash out at the selection committee.
March 18, 2024

You May Take Their Teams, but You’ll Never Take Their NCAA Tourney Units

Prizes in the NCAA men’s tournament do not follow realigning schools like Oregon to their new conferences.
March 18, 2024

Selection Sunday, Transfer Portal Monday: An Extra Layer of Madness As Players Flood the Portal

About 300 men and 200 women have declared for the portal already.
March 17, 2024

Bracket Bucks: Conferences Eye $260M Payday, Tournament Glory

The NCAA allocates payment units to conferences for each team in the men’s tournament.