Inside 1,600+ deals shaping the NCAA landscape—where growth is coming from, and where brands are gaining an edge.

College basketball has become the proving ground for NIL—and the market is evolving fast.

What started as a fragmented, experimental space is now taking shape as a more structured, competitive ecosystem. Brands are moving beyond one-off deals, athletes are building deeper portfolios, and entire programs are emerging as NIL power centers.

In this latest report, NCAAB NIL Endorsement Intelligence Report, SponsorUnited breaks down 1,666 NIL deals across 574 athletes and 485 brands, revealing not just how much the market has grown—but how it’s changing.

While total deal volume is up over 40% year-over-year, much of that growth is being driven by new large-scale partnerships—masking a more nuanced shift underneath: a market that’s becoming more deliberate, more concentrated, and more strategic.

At the same time:

• Top athletes are averaging double-digit brand deals, signaling a move toward portfolio-building over one-offs
• Women’s basketball athletes are securing more deals per athlete than men, reshaping where brands are investing
• And a small group of programs is capturing a disproportionate share of total NIL activity

The result is a market where success is about knowing where to play.

For brands, college basketball NIL is no longer an emerging channel—it’s a competitive one.

Understanding where deals are concentrating, which categories are accelerating, and how top partnerships are structured is critical to staying ahead.

This report helps you:

• Spot white space before it gets crowded
• Benchmark against the most active brands and categories
• Identify athletes and programs driving real momentum
• Build smarter, more scalable NIL strategies

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