According to SponsorUnited, despite accounting for six of the Top 10 NIL categories that account for 70% of total NIL sponsorships, women still receive fewer sponsorships and lower compensation than their male counterparts. H&R Block CMO Jill Cress said that while there’s work to be done, she sees progress toward NIL equity.
“We have started to see momentum, and this is encouraging,” she said. “The conversation is starting to cause things to move in the right direction.”
Unilever’s Degree antiperspirant brand has spent three years as a March Madness sponsor and has been active in the NIL space. This year, it’s offered $25,000 NIL deals and professional mentorships from Unilever to four college basketball walk-on players who didn’t have scholarships. Partnering with two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo on a social media campaign promoting the effort, Degree split its NIL deals evenly between men’s and women’s players and built on last year’s Bracket Gap Challenge campaign that was designed to draw more attention to the women’s tournament and the need for better facilities for women’s sports.
“We wanted to also bring attention to the athletes that are grinding every day in other schools that may not get necessarily the same attention,” said Desi Okeke, Degree’s brand director. “Also, their story: Their story of adversity and that mindset around not being done yet no matter what.”
