Who should profit from college sports?

Joshua McNichols

Alec Cowan

September 18, 2025 / 2:42 pm

Whether it's multimillion-dollar endorsement deals or just enough money to cover lunch every day, money from ads and social media endorsements is changing the game for college athletes.

The change could force smaller schools to cut their less popular sports programs.

If you follow college athletes on Instagram, you may have noticed — they're doing a lot more commercials lately. And for doing this kind of work, some athletes are raking in big bucks.

In a paid video last year, University of Washington Husky football players appeared as World of Warcraft characters. In an Instagram video, then-quarterback Michael Penix (now an Atlanta Falcon) made surprise deliveries as an fill-in Amazon

See Full Page