Bundesliga Side Becomes First European Club to Invest in NIL

VfL Wolfsburg, a top soccer club in Germany's Bundesliga, is the first European pro sports team to invest in college athletics with the StrongHER U program.

VfL Wolfsburg, one of the largest soccer clubs in Germany's Bundesliga, has made a splash in the NIL place - becoming the first European professional sports team to sign a student-athlete to an NIL contract. 

JaNiya Stevens, a junior forward soccer player from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, will be spearheading the German club's NIL program "StrongHER U." The collegiate program is an extension of Wolfsburg's StrongHER initiative, which began in 2022. StrongHER is, "a flagship project to raise awareness about the unfair conditions for female athletes and actively provide access to soccer training, mentoring and education for girls and women of all backgrounds."

The StrongHER U program aims to empower female student athletes while integrating them as mentors and local ambassadors for StrongHER. Stevens will have an opportunity to share her experiences with girls in the StrongHER program, as well as engage in coaching opportunities.

“At VfL Wolfsburg, we always try to deeply understand the markets we are active in and how we can find an edge that might set us apart from others in the space while contributing to the impact that we want to have in the communities”, Jan Twete, Director Global Partnerships at VfL Wolfsburg, stated in the club's press release announcing the partnership with Stevens. 

“Being active in the NIL space gives us the opportunity to get in front of a lot of these college-aged kids that can influence their peers, friends and inner circle to become aware of us and our programs, which not just gives us an authentic inroad into college campuses but also the chance to work with relatable athletes who act as role models and mentors for our young girls in the StrongHER program,” Twete added.

“NIL opportunities are about connecting with different people and making an impact in your community, which is something I've always kept at the forefront of any NIL deal I've pursued,” JaNiya Stevens said in a press release. “To now join a project that allows me to leverage my platform and experiences to help similar girls — girls who look like me and are in the same position I was in — almost left me speechless.”

While Wolfsburg's investment into college athletics might be the first for an international pro sports team, US teams have been investing in college athlete NIL since shortly after NIL rules were amended in July of 2021. The Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (NHL) were the first professional sports team to engage in NIL deals in August of 2021, when they signed then University of Miami Quarterback D'Eriq King to their "FLA Athlete" program. Later in September of 2021, the Panthers extended NIL offers to every female student-athlete at Florida Atlantic University. The women were paid in cash and tickets to games, with the top promoters earning four-figure bonuses at the end of the season.

In Major League Baseball (MLB), both the Chicago White Sox and Atlanta Braves have introduced NIL programs. So too did the Reno Aces - the Triple-A affiliate of the 2023 NL Pennant winning Arizona Diamondbacks. In the world of soccer, Sporting Kansas City and Orlando City SC of Major League Soccer (MLS) have begun NIL programs in the last year. Orlando's NWSL franchise, the Orlando Pride, are also involved in the NIL space - partnering with Orlando City to sponsor 17 University of Central Florida student-athletes.