Some observers have expressed concern that athletes at mid-tier schools and outside of NCAA Division I sports would see little reward from NIL. The truth is more complicated and tied closely to individual creativity, says Thilo Kunkel, a professor and director of the Sport Industry Research Center at Temple University in Pennsylvania, and founder of a company to help student-athletes with social media engagement and opportunities. His research indicates that athletes outside of the traditional big-money sports can leverage social media to collect NIL earnings.

“I think, regardless of the division and regardless of the sport, the name, image and likeness value of an individual athlete will vastly depend on how they’re able to build a powerful personal brand,” he says.