Florida Gators lead the nation in NIL deals

• Florida Gators from UF ranks first with 498 NIL deals among football, basketball and more.
• UT Austin’s Texas Longhorns are second with 367 deals.
• The Ohio State Buckeyes come in third with 286 deals.

New research by iGaming experts JustGamblers reveals that the University of Florida athletes have more NIL deals than any US college.

The study analyzed On3 NIL Deal Tracker data from March 2021 to May 2024 for college athletes around the United States as reported by players, collectives, agents, and media to discover which colleges have the athletes with the highest number of deals. Short for Name, Image, and Likeness, an “NIL” refers to the way college athletes can receive compensation.

The University of Florida leads the nation with 498 NIL deals involving 131 athletes. The Florida Gators top the national list for football deals with 349, and Graham Mertz, 23, from Kansas, holds the highest number of individual deals within his college with 18, the newest of which is with the Mercedes-Benz of Gainesville dealership. He is also third in the nation for total deals.

Second place goes to the University of Texas at Austin, with 367 NIL deals among 107 Texas Longhorns athletes. While basketball has 28 deals, the football team boasts the most successful athlete, quarterback Quinn Ewers, 21, who has secured 26 deals, making him second in the nation. Kevin Banks and Derek Williams are both ranked fifth nationally, each with 15 deals.

Ohio State University ranks third, with 101 Buckeyes athletes securing 286 deals. Treveyon Henderson is sixth in the nation with 14 deals.

Further down on the list in fourth place, the University of Oklahoma has 268 deals, while Stanford University ranks fifth with 226 deals.

Chase Griffin of the UCLA Bruins football team is the top athlete in the country with 28 deals. UCLA ranks ninth overall with 190 NIL deals.

Patrik Lidin spokesperson for JustGamblers, commented on the findings: “It’s thrilling to see young stars rising and getting the recognition they deserve. Up until 2021, college athletes were not permitted to make any money from their success, even if they were playing in packed stadiums and live on prime-time television. The numbers in this data and their success show that now their hard work and commitment can pay off financially, and are a testament to the incredible talent and dedication of university athletic programs”.