A new report from Opendorse, a significant player in the NIL space, reveals a swiftly growing marketplace that is largely ruled by collectives.
According to the report, collectives are now the main driver of NIL money, and they've, at least in part, managed to grow the market from $917 million in 2021-22 to an expected $1.67 billion in 2024-25 – with no signs of slowing down.
Authors of the report noted the coming era of revenue sharing, which the report does not see limiting the importance of NIL money.
"Early projections point to the total NIL market exceeding $2.5 billion in the first year of revenue sharing," a summary of the report's findings states. "The vital role of collectives will undoubtedly evolve, including recent trends toward marketing agency and in-house models, but their importance will not diminish."
The report breaks down potential earnings for the top 25 earning in seven different sports, including men's and women's basketball, football, baseball, softball and women's volleyball.
According to the report, the top 25 men's basketball players can expect to earn around $349,492 annually, while the top 25 women's basketball players can expect to earn around $88,000 annually.
Collectives shapes over 80 percent of the total NIL market, according to the report, which notes that their "activity plays a vital role in the recruitment and retention of student-athletes and is heavily weighted toward Football and Men’s Basketball."
Commercial compensation through sponsorships, which now makes up less than 20 percent of the total market, were broken down into the most lucrative categories. According to the report Technology companies (EA Sports, Ibotta) led the way with 16 percent of sponsorship money offered, followed by Apparel & Accessories (14.2 percent) and Non-Profits, Charities, Associations (9.9 percent).
