If the NCAA had already passed legislation allowing athletes to capitalize on their name, image and likeness, a new study says Cole Anthony would have been one of the biggest winners — to the tune of almost a half million dollars.
The UNC guard would have earned $476,000 during his freshman year in Chapel Hill if allowed to sell advertisements, endorse products and leverage his social media presence, according to a study by Athletic Director U and Navigate Research. Only Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow, estimated at $700,000, would have earned more.
The study applied typical values for group and individual licensing fees in professional sports to college athletes and used Instagram followers as a proxy for individual value. The study listed football players who have finished their careers separately from others, which is how Anthony ended up No. 1 on the main list. Duke’s Cassius Stanley was third at $405,000, with Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence fourth at $390,000. Anthony has about 597,000 Instagram followers.
One interesting aspect of the projections was the potential marketability of female athletes — gymnasts in particular. Olympian Madison Kocian, who competes at UCLA, was second at $466,000, and there were five gymnasts and eight total female athletes among the top 13. Oregon basketball player Sabrina Ionescu was ahead of male stars Cassius Winston of Michigan State and Obi Toppin of Dayton.
The NCAA in October voted to potentially allow athletes to control their so-called NIL rights in the future response to legislation passed in California — the Fair Pay to Play Act — that would prohibit the NCAA from declaring athletes ineligible if they pursued sponsorship or endorsement deals. Several other states have passed or are considering similar legislation. Foreign Olympic athletes who compete in college are already allowed to retain bonuses from their home countries without compromising their eligibility, which in some cases can be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The study does not consider the biggest NIL what-if: What Zion Williamson, the most popular and telegenic college basketball player in a generation, could have made on endorsements during his one year at Duke last season.
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