How NIL is Affecting Non-Revenue Sports

For the past four years, colleges of all sizes have been struggling with the impact of NIL on their athletic department budgets. What once was a relatively straightforward proposition has now become a game of multi-million dollar deals with flashy players lacking both loyalty and humility in their pursuit of money that wasn’t afforded players of the past.

At least not legally.

The impact on campus has been significant. Revenue sports and non-revenue sports leave ADs struggling to maximize capital to compete. Coaches have to learn a whole new way to recruit and retain top talent. Football and men’s basketball get the lion’s share of revenue and attention, with advanced programs utilizing general managers to help handle the lift.
Also, before we get too far along with this month’s blog, let’s all agree that NIL and PAY FOR PLAY are interchangeable terms in this blog and today’s college sports space.

Good? Moving on.

For college athletics, the emphasis has shifted to revenue generation. Schools need money to pay the coaches and players needed to field a winning team. That money comes from a variety of sources, including ticket sales, donations, and sponsorship. I gave this a fairly detailed overview in this blog I wrote back in October.

But what about the athletes whose sports don’t fill stadiums?

For non-revenue sports—like swimming, gymnastics, wrestling, tennis, and track and field—the NIL era has brought both opportunities and challenges. These sports do not sell lots of tickets or generate sizable TV audiences. Oftentimes, any sponsorship support they receive is a passion play or an add-on for a larger investment involving football or basketball.

Athletic Directors are left to make incredibly difficult decisions. It will most certainly lead to the elimination of non-revenue sports on campus. This just happened in a big way at Grand Canyon University, where the men’s volleyball team was recently eliminated due to budget considerations. Mind you, this is one of the nation’s most successful programs that just made it to the Final Four in 2024.

This trend will most certainly continue, and apparently, team success is not going to be the determining factor of what gets cut.

Monetizing a sport that doesn’t have a scalable audience is challenging but not impossible. Historically, a school’s sponsorship team doesn’t spend a lot of time on individual Olympic sports.

That needs to change, and here are a few free ideas brought to you by this morning’s cup of coffee:

One idea is the cume all the Olympic sports and develop a set of sponsors that would benefit from the affiliative nature while also getting a respectably sized audience that would justify a decent investment. You could also lean into your rival for a mutually beneficial and scalable sponsor concept that taps into the passion of college athletics in a big way while generating revenue*. Yet another idea would be to tie a traffic driving BOGO ticket offering related to specific Olympic sports.

I also think schools should explore a ‘membership fee’ ticketing strategy that allows for access to Olympic sporting events for a monthly price. This would take some creativity on the part of the ticketing partner, but could help to increase revenue specific to Olympic events. I’m sure there are at least a handful of forward-thinking schools already doing this.

Non-revenue athletes are, in many ways, better suited for NIL than people might think. Social media followings, niche communities, and hometown pride have created monetization opportunities that don’t rely on big crowds or national TV coverage.

Any type of personal sponsorship/NIL deal will most likely be a passion play or a relationship-driven one. There’s nothing wrong with selling your personal brand where it can be impactful. If I were a collegiate Olympic athlete or coach, I’d seek out my corporate sponsorship team and do what I can to understand what they do and how I could potentially play a role in it.

Olympic sport athletes need to lean heavily on personal branding. This means putting measurable effort into your digital presence on platforms like TikTok and Instagram. Look to develop brand partnerships with local businesses or perhaps even offer coaching services to younger athletes. You can also create revenue opportunities through content creation relevant to your sport, your school, or both. If possible or necessary, work with your school’s MMR team.

Admittedly, engaging in any of these would take time that a typical student-athlete doesn’t have a lot of. Between class, homework, practice, and games, there is very little time for student-athletes to grow their brand. You may also not get any kind of assistance from your school’s sponsorship team. Push on regardless. Over the past four years, we’ve seen some phenomenal success from a handful of athletes from across the country.

Here’s a link to a great article identifying some of the athletes who have had success. It’s dated, but … 7 of the 10 are Olympic sport athletes … 6 are women.

Whereas NIL gives athletes opportunities, it will most certainly create big challenges that will hit non-revenue sports especially hard. Schools will cut sports as GCU just did, and they will do so out of necessity. Point guards and quarterbacks that used to cost a scholarship now cost millions.

Ultimately, non-revenue-producing sports will lose.

Most of these teams will revert to club status, which absolves the school from the expense associated with a sanctioned team. What will be interesting to watch is how ADs will navigate the role Title IX implications have moving forward. It’s also worth noting that the recently announced Presidential College Sports Commission has recognized the impact that pay-for-play has had on non-revenue generating sports, with Nick Saban stating, “ we’ve got to protect Olympic sports whether they generate revenue or not.”

At the same time, collectives and alumni groups are beginning to take a more inclusive approach, sponsoring athletes across entire teams or offering flat-rate stipends to support Olympic sports.

NIL / Pay for Play is a fundamental shift in how college athletics function, from who generates revenue to how value is defined. Ticketing, sponsorship, and the athletes themselves will play a role in what happens next. Courageous protocol shifts and ideation that break historical norms can generate revenue that can help save Olympic sports from the chopping block. Undoubtedly, it’s a complicated mix of new opportunities and risks.

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Ed has over 30 years of sports marketing experience. If you’re looking for some assistance with your sponsorship efforts, contact him at ed.olsen@linedrivesportsmarketing.com or call his cell at 602.284.6722.