Jay Bilas promotes NIL as valuable resource for women’s sports

NIL has changed the lives on many collegiate athletes, regardless of sport or gender, though most of the major deals that go public turn out to be handed to the males, rather than women who are just as deserving.

ESPN analyst and college basketball commentator Jay Bilas addressed this situation, noting that some women have taken to the Wild West-type structure like a fish to water.

“It was said early on that NIL would be unfair to female athletes and actually hurt women’s sports. Early returns indicate such concerns were without merit,” Bilas said. “Paige Bueckers, the UConn star basketball player, has NIL deals with companies as varied as Gatorade and StockX. Olivia Dunne, an LSU gymnast with over 6 million social media followers, was reported to have earned over $1 million representing a clothing company.

“Women have thrived in the NIL space, not only earning money, but gaining a platform to advance gender equity in college sports and beyond.”

A prime example of how much NIL can impact women’s athletics lie in the Cavinder twins, Haley and Hanna Cavinder. The sisters gained a massive following on social media in the years leading up to the NIL laws passing.

With their four million TikTok followers and enough NIL endorsement deals to keep their family living comfortably for generations to come, they decided to transfer to Miami from Fresno State, where they “could garner a significant amount from a NIL collective, based on both their prominence in social media platforms as well as their abilities as players,” Dale Hutcherson, a Memphis-area attorney who specializes in sports and trademark law, told On3.

In the Cavinder twins’ case, their strong social media following earned them their notoriety, while Bueckers’ deals are based off of her being one of the best college basketball players regardless of gender. Regardless, women have been utilizing NIL to their advantage under the radar and benefiting just as much as their male counterparts.

“Women have been active and creative in the social media sphere, and there is no indication that NIL has damaged women’s sports in any way,” Bilas said. “To the contrary, all evidence indicates that NIL has enhanced women’s sports and brought more attention to its best and most charismatic athletes. In addition, it has empowered female athletes and allowed some to earn money to start businesses and pay for graduate school.”