The real winners of March Madness? Brands that move fast on NIL deals

These partnerships — classified as Name, Image and Likeness deals — are becoming a major area of investment for brands. NIL deals allow NCAA athletes to profit off their personal branding through sponsorships, endorsements and social media posts. The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the path for these terms in 2021, and since then, college athletes have made millions of dollars without losing eligibility to play for their schools. NIL deals are also a win for brands, as they offer a lower-cost way to participate in major sporting events.

2026 marks the fifth March Madness since the NIL rules went into effect. Partnerships have evolved a lot in that time, said Caroline Ryan, vp of brand marketing and head of talent strategy at Excel Sports Management. Today, brands are “treating athletes as creators and storytellers, rather than relying on traditional endorsement-style posts where athletes simply tag a brand,” she said, citing more personal content like “get-ready-with-me” videos. Ryan calculated that food, beverage and QSR brands are driving “the highest deal volume,” when it comes to NIL deals during March Madness.

How brands work with athletes is also drawing attention from Washington. In 2025, an antitrust settlement permitted the NCAA to allow schools to share revenue of up to $20.5 million directly with student athletes, for the ’25-’26 school year. The cap will increase by around 4% each year, ending in 2035. U.S. President Donald Trump has advocated for changing the NIL rules, calling to “establish a fair standard” for student athletes, “without endless litigation.” A proposed bill to amend the rules, called the SCORE Act, failed to pass in the House after several conservatives voiced their opposition.

Highlighting ‘a breakout player’

The first round of NCAA men’s tournament games began on March 16, while the NCAA women’s tournament games started on March 17. This year’s March Madness is expected to draw large viewership numbers; more people tuned in to the first two rounds of the men’s tournament last year than in any year since 1993. By taking advantage of this hype, brands get an opportunity to drive engagement, awareness and conversion, especially among the coveted cohort of Gen Z.

Men’s care brand Every Man Jack is partnering with University of Michigan point guard Elliot Cadeau on several initiatives. The 21-year-old is appearing in social media campaigns for the brand’s new Full Court collection of under-$10 deodorants and body washes, available exclusively at Target. Cadeau also taped a two-minute YouTube interview with Every Man Jack, in which he spoke candidly about playing basketball while being partially deaf.

Every Man Jack’s work with Cadeau is part of the brand’s larger refresh effort, which includes updating its marketing to be more sports-forward and to emphasize values like grit and perseverance. Ambassadors like Cadeau “are the living embodiment of this brand,” Nicklaus Hasselberg, vp of growth marketing and e-commerce at Every Man Jack, told Modern Retail. “We want to highlight the hero’s journey — men that have undeniable talent, but have faced adversity in a very public way, in one way or another,” he said. “Elliot is a breakout player for Michigan, and we wanted to highlight his story.”

Every Man Jack is also working with Barstool Sports on March Madness programming. It’s running ads on Barstool Sports’ website and YouTube channel, and it plans to give out samples of the Full Court collection at Barstool Sports’ Final Four activation in April. Every Man Jack had a similar partnership with Barstool Sports for last year’s March Madness and saw “very positive return from that investment,” including an 8% increase in brand awareness, Hasselberg said. In turn, “we went even bigger with Barstool this year,” he said.

‘We have to pay attention’

NYX Professional Makeup made 22-year-old Betts the face of the latest iteration of its “Make Them Look” campaign, which the brand is promoting online and on social media. NYX approached Betts, finding she was a “natural fit” for the next chapter of a campaign about self-expression. “She really shows up like herself — authentically bold, unapologetic and with a confidence that truly inspires the community and any generation that comes after her,” Diana Valdez, vp of brand and consumer experience at NYX, told Modern Retail.

Betts was named the 2025 WBCA NCAA Division I Defensive Player of the Year. She and NYX will host a community game for fans in Los Angeles following the WNBA draft in April. Selected participants will receive on-court coaching from Betts, and NYX will showcase some of her favorite products, including Brow Glue Crazy Lift, Butter Gloss and Epic Inky Stix.

NYX inked its first NIL deal in 2024, with the basketball player Juju Watkins, who plays for the University of Southern California. The brand has invested in women’s sports for several years now, including through partnerships with professional leagues, like the New York Liberty. Working with college athletes, in particular, interests NYX because its predominant audience is Gen Z, and its research found that its customers like to play and watch sports. NYX’s 2024 Instagram announcement about working with Watkins garnered nearly 24,000 likes.

“When our community says, ‘Hey, this is where our interests are,’ we have to pay attention, and sports is no different,” Valdez said.

However, for brands, there are some risks in making a big bet on a March Madness campaign. Their player of choice may get injured, or their team can get out of the competition early. Last year, Watkins suffered a season-ending ACL tear in her left knee during the second round of the NCAA tournament. “It’s unpredictable in the sense of where that game or that season can go,” Valdez acknowledged. “But what we are celebrating [as a brand] is self-expression as an individual, and not just the game.”

It’s true that NIL deals today require some degree of adaptability, Excel Sports Management’s Ryan said. Most deals for March Madness are planned “months in advance,” she said, but “today, brands are much more focused on being flexible and reacting in real time.” “Many [brands] now have rapid-response teams and dedicated budgets set aside to activate within 24-48 hours around breakout players, Cinderella runs [big moves by underdog teams] or viral moments,” Ryan added.

Every Man Jack’s Hasselberg mirrored this point, saying, “We’ve done a lot of content with Elliot, and now, during March Madness, we can serve those relevant assets during the right timeframe.”