Bronny James And Shedeur Sanders Top-Earning NCAA Athletes In NIL Contracts

In the ever-evolving landscape of college sports and Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) endorsements, young student-athletes are making headlines and significant earnings. Among these emerging stars, Essence reports, are Bronny James and Shedeur Sanders.

James, the son of NBA legend LeBron James and a freshman at the University of Southern California (USC), has raked in approximately $5.9 million from his NIL contracts with prestigious brands such as Nike, Beats by Dre, and PSD Underwear.

What’s remarkable is that this teenage sensation hasn’t even played a single college game yet.

Sanders, a start quarterback for the University of Colorado and the son of NFL icon Deion Sanders, has reportedly garnered an impressive $4.8 million from his endorsement deals.

Bronny and Shedeur are not alone in cashing in on their athletic potential. Take Angel Reese, a standout player at Louisiana State University (LSU) and a college basketball star.

In an April interview with the I Am Athlete podcast, she revealed, “The money I’m making is more than some of the people that are in the league that might be top players.” At that time, Reese was the highest-earning NCAA player on the NIL list, surpassing both male and female counterparts.

Sponsors United noted in April 2023 that Reese’s remarkable 17 NIL deals ranked her fifth in college sports, behind Rayquan Smith of Norfolk State (football and track, with 66 deals), Ky’Wuan Dukes of Johnson C. Smith University (football, with 29 deals), Lauren Burke of Texas (softball, with 22 deals), and Jon Seaton of Elon (football, with 18 deals). Reese stands ahead of the men’s college basketball leader, Armando Bancot of North Carolina, each boasting 16 deals.

An On3 report shed light on the financial magnitude of Reese’s endorsements, revealing that she earns approximately $392,000 per year from prominent companies including Bose, JanSport, McDonald’s, Outback Steakhouse, and Xfinity.