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NOTE: Portions of content and pictures provided by newsletter subscriber Naren Narasimhan, Columbia Women's Basketball’s NIL Research and Data Analyst.

Name, Ivy, Likeness: How Columbia women's basketball is making big NIL moves

And how other schools can follow suit

NIL isn’t just for bigtime programs.

It’s for every college, every college athlete, at every level.

Case in point: Columbia women’s basketball.

The reigning, three-time Ivy League regular season champions have been leveraging NIL for both individual players AND the entire team, including:

• Moolah Kicks, a company dedicated to empowering female athletes, provided all 12 players with their signature Neovolt Pro V2 shoes and shorts.

  • This was huge for the international athletes, who cannot profit off NIL while in the U.S., as these athletes worked with the brand to activate their deals in the November 2024 ‘Battle 4 Atlantis’ tournament in The Bahamas.

  • Riley Weiss, Cecelia Collins, and Perri Page visited the iconic Foot Locker store on 34th Street in New York City to try on the footwear.

• Hoop Culture, a brand dedicated to basketball culture and empowering athletes. Each player on the team received customized merchandise designed by them and is available on the team’s dedicated Hoop Culture page.

  • Additionally, a portion of each sale goes back to the players, allowing them to profit from their NIL while offering a personal connection to their fanbase.

Breakdown

• No major conference? No problem!

  • Columbia is leading the way for non-major women’s teams to leverage NIL. This proves that you don’t need to be at a big program to ensure your athletes build their personal brand.

  • This showcases the proactive efforts of the Columbia women’s basketball team to help their athletes beyond the game, as athletes of all levels should feel empowered to better themselves on and off the court/field/track/etc.

• Leveraging local area and resources

  • Columbia being located in New York City provides them a significant advantage to leverage partnerships, given the number of brands and resources the city has to offer.

  • While NYC is not known so much for their college basketball culture, this didn’t stop the team from working with Moolah Kicks (NYC-based) to secure a partnership for the athletes. (Hoop Culture also did a photo shoot on Columbia’s campus.)

• Big brain Ivy League move going international

  • As noted above, international student-athletes cannot freely monetize their NIL in the U.S. - but they can in other countries.

  • Therefore, this was a very smart strategy by the team to leverage their time in The Bahamas to secure partnerships for this subset of athletes. (Which is allowed within NCAA guidelines.)

Additional credits

• Alex Grossman (Director of Program Development)

• James Logan Hatch (Assistant Director of Basketball Operations)

• Grace Stevenson (NIL Coordinator)

• Isabela Krslovic (NIL Research Analyst)

• Kendall Brown (NIL Research Analyst)

Thank You for reading today’s newsletter

^{I discuss insights and news related to NIL and personal branding for athletes every Wednesday at 12p ET/9a PT.}

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