REPORT 2025 - 2026

REAL ATHLETES.

REAL IMPACT.

Learfield delivers best-in-class NIL solutions by connecting people, content, and technology to enhance the student-athlete experience and generate meaningful results for brands.

REPORT 2025 - 2026

REAL ATHLETES.

REAL IMPACT.

We deliver best-in-class NIL solutions by connecting people, content, and technology to generate brand growth and to drive meaningful results for brands.

OVER 1,300 BRAND PARTNERS

| THE LEADER IN NATIONAL BRAND ACTIVATION LEVERAGING SCHOOL IP AND STORYTELLING CONTENT

01

EXECUTIVE TESTIMONIALS

"

Student-athlete storytelling is the heartbeat of authentic NIL campaigns. Learfield Impact provides industry-leading NIL services at scale, combined with original content from our Learfield Studios team that delivers stories that fans love to watch, and brands love to support. "

Cole Gahagan

PRESIDENT & CEO AT LEARFIELD

"

Student-athletes help SeatGeek connect with fans in ways traditional marketing can't. Their authentic relationships with campuses, fan bases, and communities make campaigns more relevant, trusted, and memorable. NIL creates opportunities to engage fans through voices they trust, helping us build meaningful connections and long-term brand affinity."

Joey Goodrich

SENIOR ACCOUNT LEAD, SPONSORSHIPS AT SEATGEEK

"

Real NIL is transformational, not transactional. Aligning student-athletes' passions with brand partnerships creates opportunities that meaningfully enhance the student-athlete experience. We’ve experienced incredible momentum in our sponsorship business with women’s sports, which has fueled more demand for NIL campaigns. Over the past year, female student-athlete NIL participation more than doubled, increasing 123% year over year."

Kim Damron

PRESIDENT OF SPORTS PROPERTIES AT LEARFIELD

"

College sports gives JLab a powerful platform to connect with fans, showcase our products, and partner with athletes who authentically represent our brand. From stars like Travis Hunter and Fernando Mendoza to creators like Maddie Scherr, we've seen the value of combining broad reach with genuine fan engagement."

Terra Teat

CMO AT JLAB

"

Authentic NIL success starts with people. Our unmatched team and scalable network across 40+ school partners enable us to deliver meaningful partnerships and best-in-class experiences for brands and student-athletes."

Dayali Carpenter

SR. DIRECTOR, NIL GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT AT LEARFIELD

"

Partnering with student athletes through their schools' NIL programs was one of the highlights of the year for our team. Getting to build a branded content series that featured the schools' mascots alongside the players made it feel truly connected to each campus community. The campaign drove over 26 million impressions, and more than that, it was fun, genuine, and the kind of brand storytelling we're proud of."

Ariel Gambardella

DIRECTOR, GLOBAL BRAND PARTNERSHIPS, EVENTS & HOSPITALITY AT DOORDASH

"

Student-athlete storytelling is the heartbeat of authentic NIL campaigns. Learfield Impact provides industry-leading NIL services at scale, combined with original content from our Learfield Studios team that delivers stories that fans love to watch, and brands love to support. "

Cole Gahagan

PRESIDENT & CEO AT LEARFIELD

"

Student-athletes help SeatGeek connect with fans in ways traditional marketing can't. Their authentic relationships with campuses, fan bases, and communities make campaigns more relevant, trusted, and memorable. NIL creates opportunities to engage fans through voices they trust, helping us build meaningful connections and long-term brand affinity."

Joey Goodrich

SENIOR ACCOUNT LEAD, SPONSORSHIPS AT SEATGEEK

"

Real NIL is transformational, not transactional. Aligning student-athletes' passions with brand partnerships creates opportunities that meaningfully enhance the student-athlete experience. We’ve experienced incredible momentum in our sponsorship business with women’s sports, which has fueled more demand for NIL campaigns. Over the past year, female student-athlete NIL participation more than doubled, increasing 123% YOY."

Kim Damron

PRESIDENT OF SPORTS PROPERTIES AT LEARFIELD

"

College sports gives JLab a powerful platform to connect with fans, showcase our products, and partner with athletes who authentically represent our brand. From stars like Travis Hunter and Fernando Mendoza to creators like Maddie Scherr, we've seen the value of combining broad reach with genuine fan engagement."

Terra Teat

CMO AT JLAB

"

Authentic NIL success starts with people. Our unmatched team and scalable network across 40+ school partners enable us to deliver meaningful partnerships and best-in-class experiences for brands and student-athletes at scale."

Dayali Carpenter

SR. DIRECTOR, NIL GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT AT LEARFIELD

"

Partnering with student athletes through their schools' NIL programs was one of the highlights of the year for our team. Getting to build a branded content series that featured the schools' mascots alongside the players made it feel truly connected to each campus community. The campaign drove over 26 million impressions, and more than that, it was fun, genuine, and the kind of brand storytelling we're proud of.

Ariel Gambardella

DIRECTOR, GLOBAL BRAND PARTNERSHIPS, EVENTS & HOSPITALITY AT DOORDASH

02

STORIES BEHIND THE STUDENT-ATHLETE

STORIES BEHIND THE

Student-Athlete

NIL works when a student-athlete and a brand genuinely connect — and their community feels it. These are the student-athletes and brands making it happen in their own words.

Filter by sport and click any story to go deeper.

03

OUR NIL MOMENTUM

DOUBLING DOWN:

OUR NIL MOMENTUM

Local and national sponsors continue to embrace the power of school IP coupled with student-athlete influencer marketing. Learfield’s NIL activity nearly doubling year-over-year – from the number of deals and participating student-athletes to overall sponsorship revenue growth.

TOP ATHLETIC TEAMS

Football

Men's Basketball

Women's Basketball

Baseball

Softball

TOP SPONSOR CATEGORIES

Restaurants

Financial Services

Retail

Health Care

Business / Professional Services

TOP NIL ACTIVITIES

Brand Ambassador

Production Shoot

Social Media Post

Appearances

Autograph Session

04

NIL IN ACTION

NIL INTEGRATION BOOSTS

SPONSORSHIP PERFORMANCE

When a brand is woven authentically into an athlete's story, not bolted on, fans feel it. Fanbase research confirms what the athletes already knew: authentic NIL integration drives outcomes conventional advertising can't match.

2025 Fanbase Voices Survey Results Below.

AUTHENTICITY
WINS

65%

Of fans favor NIL partnerships with a genuine brand-athlete connection over traditional sponsorship alone.

FANS ARE PAYING ATTENTION

80%

Of fans notice NIL deals at their favorite school, with younger fans (18–44) showing the strongest awareness and affinity toward brands.

SCHOOL BRANDS AMPLIFY

60%

Of fans are more likely to notice NIL deals featuring team logos or jerseys, making school branding a powerful amplifier.

NIL STORIES

IN MOTION

Every deal has a story behind it. Watch how Learfield's athlete-brand partnerships come to life from campus activations to national campaigns and see what authentic NIL looks like in practice.

05

OUR NIL DEALMAKERS

LARGEST DEDICATED
NIL TEAM IN

COLLEGE ATHLETICS

Learfield embeds NIL Dedicated Personnel directly on campuses. They connect athletes with the right brands, manage activations, and build lasting relationships between universities, student-athletes, and sponsors.

210%

More Sponsorship Deals Including NIL at Properties with Dedicated Learfield NIL Staff

70%

of NIL Dedicated Positions are Staffed by Former Student‑Athletes and College Administrators/Staff

06

TECHNOLOGY

COMPASS NIL PLATFORM

THE INFRASTRUCTURE BEHIND EVERY

AUTHENTIC DEAL

Compass NIL manages dealmaking between student-athletes and Learfield's 12,000+ brand partners. School partners get access to anonymized analytics by conference, sport, and position.

Data below includes ’25-’26 NIL and Group Licensing Activity

Largest group licensing platform in college athletics

26,000

CURRENT STUDENT-ATHLETES

20,000+

NIL DEALS TO STUDENT-ATHLETES

15,000+

STUDENT-ATHLETES PAID

300

SCHOOL PROPERTIES

GROUP LICENSING SPOTLIGHT

Learfield's Compass NIL serves as the athlete opt-in platform of choice for large-scale NIL and university merchandise licensing programs for industry leading companies such as Fanatics, EA SPORTS, and more across hundreds of collegiate institutions.

11,000+

ATHLETES OPTED IN

300+

SCHOOLS

READY TO CONNECT YOUR BRAND WITH

REAL ATHLETES?

Whether you're a brand partner looking to activate NIL campaigns, a university exploring new revenue channels, or a student-athlete ready to build your brand, Learfield NIL Impact is where it starts.