Brands have long turned to professional athletes for their star power in big-budget commercials, but recent shifts in name, image, and likeness (NIL) policy have pushed marketers to widen the talent pool.

On July 1, the House v. NCAA settlement took effect, allowing colleges to compensate athletes for their NIL usage. Marketers expect that these athletes, many of whom have built-in communities and an engaged digital fanbase, can help brands stand out in the influencer space.

• Student athletes boast a social media engagement rate 3.7x higher than traditional influencers (5.6% compared to 1.9%), according to a June Opendorse report.

“College athletes bring a new edge by commanding hyper-loyal, local communities,” said Alison Bringé, CMO of Launchmetrics, “shaping culture on campuses and connecting with younger consumers with a level of authenticity traditional influencers can’t reach.”

Why college athletes resonate

NIL compensation has shown that sports influence functions like creator influence, as fans want more from their favorite players than just highlight reels. US sports fans look for personal life updates (31%) almost as much as game highlights (34%), according to an April YouGov survey.

“With jam-packed schedules, they don’t always fit the mold of the ‘always-on’ influencer, which makes the glimpses they share into their daily lives, routines, and preferences even more special and exciting to fans,” said Ajalin Williamson, strategy director at The Goat Agency in an October report.

Inside the sports creator economy

With the NIL settlement giving new opportunities to athletes and marketers, brands are reconsidering who is influential, recognizing that considering the full sports sphere can lead to more memorable work.

Cameo, an app where consumers buy personalized videos from celebrities, is recognizing the value of expanding athlete partnerships through a partnership with the Pro Athlete Community (PAC). The goal is to highlight how “brand deals have historically been limited to only the most prominent names,” according to a press release.

You no longer need to be in the big leagues to be a top sports creator. The Savannah Bananas, an exhibition baseball team that is known for their choreographed dances and social presence, has 11.1 million TikTok followers. The Yankees have 1.8 million, and The Mets only 801.7 thousand.

LINCOLN, Neb. —

Nebraska Athletics is increasing capacity inside the John Cook Arena for the 2026 Husker Volleyball season, but some fans say the reseating is a worrisome change.

The arena, inside the Bob Devaney Sports Center, will go from 8,300 to 10,000 seats next year. It’s the first full reseating in the program’s history. Longtime ticket holders like Jim Bunch said their season-ticket spots will no longer be guaranteed under the reseating.

“A lot of people in our section, that have now been dispersed, have been together for over well over 30 years,” Bunch said. “It’s really sad.”

The Athletic Fund says the reseat will increase revenue for the program. Bunch said he worries that Nebraska Athletics is prioritizing profit over fans.

“I understand the landscape of college athletics today, NIL, transfer portal, and now the revenue sharing. But you know, the feeling in Nebraska for me is we’re no longer fans, we’re consumers, and they’re trying to squeeze every nickel out of us that they can,” Bunch said.

In a February interview with KETV Sports, UNL Athletic Director Troy Dannen said updates like this one are part of keeping up with the evolution of college athletics.

“In this new era of college athletics, for moving into how we generate revenues, stadiums are the primary revenue generators that every institution that plays at this level have,” Dannen said.

Bunch said the changes are already beginning, after the University announced the reseating would begin for the NCAA tournament. Bunch said many friends of his no longer could sit in their season-ticket spots.

“If you’re a current season ticket holder, you will get a seat somewhere in the building. That has not been true,” Bunch said.

The process is outlined on the Nebraska Athletic Fund website, where it lists that season ticket holders will get an assigned appointment time to select their seats, as well as the donation and priority seating costs. The contribution deadline is March 18, 2026, and ticket holders will be notified in April and May of their selection date and time.

“We don’t know where we’re going to be for next season, and we’re hopeful that we’re going to be able to stay close to the action,” Bunch said.

Cal Poly Humboldt women’s and men’s indoor track and field squads opened the 2025 season with a meet at the Silver State Invitational and Multis, hosted by the University of Nevada, Reno, this past weekend. The Jacks saw three NCAA provisional marks set, one by pole vaulter Michael Payan (16-8.75) and two on the women’s side, Cocome McKamey in the pentathlon (8th out of 22) and Isabel Perez-Zoghbi (2:10.70 seconds in the 800 meters). Two of those marks are likely enough to earn an invite to the national championships in March, according to Lumberjacks head coach Sarah Ingram.

The marks are set as an indication that the individual is in range to go to nationals, not a “golden ticket,” Ingram said. When the time comes for the university to declare athletes it wants to enter for the national championship, they are allowed with a provisional mark. However, there will still only be roughly the top 18 that qualify for the national meet out of those declared, which comes down to a ranked order list of each event. Payan’s mark, Ingram is reasonably confident, will be included, and comes after Payan took fifth place last year at nationals as a freshman, setting a new school record as “we’re expecting big things out of him this year,” said Ingram.

On the women’s side, Perez-Zoghbi has gone previously to nationals indoor in the 800m and outdoors twice for the 400m hurdles, the 800 currently being her focus. Ingram said her mark is probably strong enough to get her in, which Ingram said “is pretty exciting, and obviously both of these athletes are going to continue competing; we have a couple more weekends of indoor in February where they’ll be able to try to better those marks and get them as high as possible on that rankings. Our third athlete, Cocome McKamey, is one of our multi-event athletes indoors with the pentathlon. Her mark met the qualifying threshold, but based on previous years, we don’t expect that mark to be good enough to get in, but based on what we saw at her meet, she’ll be able to hit the marks needed at our next multi opportunity up in Spokane, Washington in February.”

Humboldt is going on its third season in indoor track and field, and “building out some depth in our record book,” according to Ingram. Eight new school records were set in Reno across the women’s and men’s events. Of the women, two freshman had an “outstanding” meet, said Ingram, with “really big personal bests in all their events.” Kelsi Lytle set a new school record in the 60m with a 7.85 seconds and also had p.r.’s in the 200m and 400m, while Caitlyn Dougherty established a school-best mark in the 200m and had personal records in the 200m, 400m (winning her heat at 58.32 secs), and 60m hurdles. She was also on the 4×400 team that set a new school record with Brielle Jimerson, McKamey, and Perez-Zoghbi.

“We’re really expecting a strong 4x400m relay in our next meet as well, and hoping we’ll be able to get a provisional qualifying mark in that event as well,” said Ingram.

Of the men, in addition to Payan’s new school mark, Dylan Ochoa also set a new mark in the 400m, running 49.12 seconds. Collin Friedman had a new long jump record and high jump as well to tie Gabe Bondurant and Alex Dillon in the latter at 1.90m. Joseph Gonzalez not only set a new school record in the shot put, he won the meet outright with a 15.89m, and Isaak Kasso won the 60m hurdles with a mark of 8.50 secs.

“We’ve got a big stretch here where we’re taking a break and not allowed to have official practices during winter break,” said Ingram. “We’re trying to make sure everybody passes their classes, does their finals and enjoys the holidays. And then we come back and start practicing again Jan. 12. Our first meet (of the new year) will be February 5th through 7th in Spokane. We’ll be bringing all event groups and that meet will also have a multi offered as well.”

Finally, she continued, “We had lots of really good stuff this weekend, we’re just really excited to be putting up such strong marks this early in the year, it helps the athletes stay motivated going into that long stretch of winter break with their goal-setting, their training, when they’re kind of on their own time. We’re excited for what this will mean not only for the finish of our indoor season come February and March, but springboarding us into that outdoor season for the whole rest of the spring semester.”

Northern Michigan University’s Baux Truckey, center, gets out of the starting blocks during a track event at a college indoor track and field meet held at Minnesota State-Mankato on Feb. 15. (Photo courtesy of NMU)

OSHKOSH, Wis. — The women’s track and field team at Northern Michigan University opened their season with more than a dozen top-five finishes, including two event victories, at the Early Bird Invitational hosted by Wisconsin-Oshkosh on Friday and Saturday.

With no team scores kept, the Wildcats tasted the most success with Kaitlin Smith winning the pole vault and Teiolla Harvey capturing first place in the weight throw. Teammates also added four runner-up finishes, six in third place, two more in fourth place and another three in fifth.

In the field, Smith cleared 3.36 meters (11 feet, 1/4 inch) to win the pole vault, while teammate Alyssa Tumminaro got over at 3.06 meters (10-feet-1/2) for third.

Harvey’s winning weight throw distance was 15.81 meters (51-10 1/2), which she achieved on her fourth throw. The Wildcats’ Danielle Lund, a Manistique High School graduate, was fourth with 15.18 meters (49-9 5/8).

Harvey was also runner-up in the shot put with a heave of 12.29 meters (40-3 7/8), while teammate Alizabeth Little was third with 12.20 meters (40-feet-3/8) and Lund fifth with 11.56 meters (37-11 1/8).

And Northern’s Crystal Walker was third in the long jump with a leap of 5.31 meters (17-5), while Alayna Vandegriff was third in the triple jump with 11.07 meters (36-3 7/8).

On the track, the Wildcats’ Anya VanSweden was runner-up in the first race on Saturday, the 3,000-meter run, in 10 minutes, 58.38 seconds.

In the 60 hurdles, freshman teammate Lily Phillips was second in 8.95 seconds, while Walker was fourth in 9.19.

Marquette Senior High School product Baux Truckey was third in the 60 dash in 7.87.

In the 4-by-400 relay, Truckey, Lily Phillips, Taylor Rogers and Beverly Harper were runners-up in 4:06.32, while Brooke Lemos, Paige Anderson, Ella DeBruyn and Ishpeming grad Lola Korpi were fifth in 4:31.32.

In the five-event pentathlon, NMU’s Natasha Nowakowski finished third in a field of 11 competitors after compiling 3,076 points. He top finishers were third in both the high jump after clearing 1.54 meters (5-feet-5/8) and shot put with a heave of 9.86 meters (32-4 1/4).

Teammate Eva Zonca was fifth with 2,942 points as she was fourth in the 60 hurdles in 9.51 seconds, while Northern’s Elizabeth Simpson was sixth with 2,875 points. Simpson’s top finish was fourth in the 800 in 2:34.80.

With this warm-up meet finished, the Wildcats won’t be in action again until Jan. 24 when they travel to Whitewater, Wisconsin, for the Karl Schlender Invitational.

They also have one home meet on Saturday, Feb. 7, the WCW Tri-Meet, an annual event that also includes Wayne State and Saginaw Valley State.

Story contents based on Northern Michigan University Sports Information press release reviewing the meet. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.

HANOVER, N.H. – Check out all the Big Green teams in action this week!
 
Men’s Basketball –  Tuesday, December 9 and Saturday, December 13
The Dartmouth men’s basketball team will wrap its trip to the Rocky Mountains by playing Colorado State at 9:00 p.m. ET (7:00 p.m. MST).The Big Green will then host Boston University at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday at Leede Arena. Follow live stats at DartmouthSports.com and click here to purchase tickets for Saturday’s game. 
 
Women’s Basketball – Thursday, December 11 + Saturday, December 13
The Big Green hit the road this week for games at NJIT (Thursday) and Iona (Saturday). Dartmouth is coming off two wins last weekend, beating Central Connecticut State (53-44) and Bucknell (53-45). The Big Green are 5-2 after seven games, marking their best record after seven games since the 2017-18 season. Nina Miniccozi has impressed, posting double-figure points for three straight games, the longest streak of her career.
 
Men’s and Women’s Track and Field – Friday, December 12 and Saturday, December 13
After opening the indoor schedule in Boston, Mass., the Dartmouth track and field teams will host the Dartmouth December Invitational on Friday and Saturday, marking the first home meet of the indoor season. You can follow live results here.
 
Women’s Hockey – Friday, December 12 and Saturday, December 13
Dartmouth women’s hockey will close the first half of the season this weekend, welcoming Saint Michael’s and Saint Anselm to Thompson Arena for its final games of 2025. The Big Green are coming off a 3-1 loss to RPI and a scoreless tie with Union last weekend and will look to get back in the win column before the holiday break.
The matchup with the Purple Knights on Friday, December 12 is the first in program history. Friday’s game will also be Dartmouth’s annual Teddy Bear Toss presented by Townline Equipment. Bring a new unwrapped teddy bear and toss it onto the ice after the Big Green’s first goal. On Saturday, Dartmouth will host Saint Anselm, having a 3-2 record against the Hawks. The Big Green won the teams’ last matchup 9-1 in Manchester last season. Puck drop on Friday is set for 3 p.m. while Saturday’s game will get underway at 2 p.m. You can purchase tickets here or watch either game on ESPN+ or follow the live stats on DartmouthSports.com.
 
Men’s Hockey – Friday, December 12 and Sunday, December 14
No. 8/7 Dartmouth men’s hockey hits the ice for two games ahead of the holiday break. The Big Green take on Army on Friday night before traveling to in-state rival UNH. Dartmouth is coming off its fifth straight weekend sweep after defeating ECAC Hockey and Ivy foes Brown and Yale this past weekend. Hayden Stavroff had six goals and three assists in the two games as he was named ECAC Hockey Forward of the Week. On Monday, the Big Green were ranked eighth in the USCHO.com poll and seventh in the USA Hockey poll, the highest ranking the Big Green have received under the current polling system. Fans are encouraged to bring new teddy bears to Friday’s game against Army for Dartmouth’s annual teddy bear toss; faceoff is at 7 p.m. 
 
Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving – Saturday, December, 13 
The Big Green return to action on Saturday at the CSCAA Open Water Nationals following a stellar performance at the Golden Grizzly Classic, which saw the women finish first and men second.