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Show Me the Money! The Immediate Impact of Name, Image, and Likeness on College Football Recruiting

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Listed:
  • Joshua D. Pitts
  • Brent A. Evans

Abstract

Using recruiting data from 247 Sports that accounts for transfers, the authors examined the impact of name, image, and likeness (NIL) on college football recruiting. Name, image, and likeness earnings potential at each university was measured by the average of the top-ten NIL valuations for a university's football players ( NIL Average ). After controlling for many factors, including university- and coach-fixed effects, our instrumental variables estimates reveal that NIL Average was correlated with the amount of recruiting points a program received in the 2022, 2023, and 2024 recruiting cycles. Yet, the increase in NIL funding required to significantly alter the talent universities attract is probably cost-inhibitive for most programs. We conclude that while NIL is certainly a new aspect of recruiting to which universities must devote resources, the existence of NIL is unlikely to cause a dramatic shift in the distribution of talent in college football.

Suggested Citation

  • Joshua D. Pitts & Brent A. Evans, 2025. "Show Me the Money! The Immediate Impact of Name, Image, and Likeness on College Football Recruiting," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 26(3), pages 316-335, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:jospec:v:26:y:2025:i:3:p:316-335
    DOI: 10.1177/15270025241301021
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Brian Mills & Jason Winfree, 2018. "Athlete Pay and Competitive Balance in College Athletics," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 52(2), pages 211-229, March.
    2. John Charles Bradbury & Joshua D. Pitts, 2018. "Full Cost-of-Attendance Scholarships and College Choice," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 19(7), pages 977-989, October.
    3. Brent A. Evans & Joshua D. Pitts, 2018. "Cross-Sport Recruiting Effects in NCAA D1 Football and Basketball," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 19(6), pages 820-842, August.
    4. Matt Ryan Huml & N David Pifer & Caitlin Towle & Cheryl R Rode, 2019. "If we build it, will they come? The effect of new athletic facilities on recruiting rankings for power five football and men's basketball programs," Journal of Marketing for Higher Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(1), pages 1-18, January.
    5. Mark F. Owens & Adam D. Rennhoff & Michael A. Roach, 2025. "The impact of name, image, and likeness contracts on student-athlete college choice," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 57(22), pages 2822-2838, May.
    6. McDonald Paul Mirabile & Mark David Witte, 2017. "A Discrete-Choice Model of a College Football Recruit’s Program Selection Decision," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 18(3), pages 211-238, April.
    7. J. Michael Dumond & Allen K. Lynch & Jennifer Platania, 2008. "An Economic Model of the College Football Recruiting Process," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 9(1), pages 67-87, February.
    8. J. D. Pitts & B. Evans, 2016. "The role of conference externalities and other factors in determining the annual recruiting rankings of football bowl subdivision (FBS) teams," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(33), pages 3164-3174, July.
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    • Z20 - Other Special Topics - - Sports Economics - - - General

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