Action Sports Reveals Five Most Marketable NIL Athletes in College Sports

In the world of Name, Image, and Likeness, it pays to be a big name.

Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images

In the year of 2024 with the state of collegiate athletics in regards to Name, Image, and Likeness, being a big-time star has never meant more than it does right now.

While it's certainly not a perfect world and is still figuring itself out, ultimately there is obviously a direct correlation between marketability and profitably for college athletes. Action Network ranked the five most marketable athletes across all of college sports using indicators such as NIL valuation, social media reach, an audience performance index, and an interest/likability index. None of the names were particularly shocking on the list, but the top was a bit of an eyebrow raiser.

LSU gymnast and social media sensation Livvy Dunne came in ranked at No. 1 with the highest social media score, the second-highest valuation score, and interestingly the lowest interest/likability score as the least written about of the five athletes in the last calendar year.

Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders, son of head coach and NFL/MLB legend Deion Sanders comes in at No. 2. The only surprise here was that he did not come in at No. 1 with a perfect 20/20 NIL valuation score but the second lowest social media score of the five athletes. Over the last 12 months, Action says Sanders has had 4,500+ news articles written about him. He only came in a few total points behind Dunne largely because of social media.

No. 3 was Sanders' Colorado teammate and two-way superstar Travis Hunter. America has fallen in love with Hunter as he continues to excel both at wide receiver and cornerback for the Buffaloes. Hunter has a lower NIL valuation than both Dunne and Sanders, but could continue to climb up the list as he continues to become a household name.

The No. 4 ranked athlete was Connecticut star basketball player Paige Bueckers, who has by far the lowest NIL value of the five, but has seen borderline unprecedented social media growth. Action's data indicates a yearly following increase of over 98 percent, blowing away both Hunter and Sanders as well as the No. 5 ranked athlete, Texas quarterback Arch Manning.

Incredibly, Manning makes this list despite the fact that he has only actually started two games and the starts were due to injury from starter Quinn Ewers, an NIL star in his own right. Manning will almost assuredly enter the 2025 season as the unquestioned starter, and if he proves to be as good as advertised along with the last name on his jersey, he has yet to even come close to his NIL ceiling.