Rising to the Top: The Highest NIL Earning Athletes of the SEC
The NIL space has allowed players the opportunity to capitalize monetarily on their name, image and likeness. This is a good thing considering how much money the NCAA has made off of them over the years. While the NCAA seems quite arbitrary in some of their ruling, such as the case against the Tennessee Volunteers and Nico Iamaleava, overall it seems to be a positive thing for the athletes.
While regulations are different state-to-state, some SEC players have clearly been able to profit tremendously off of NIL- regardless of the state they attend school in. On3 provides a list of these athletes for all to see.
Here are the Top Earning Athletes in NIL from the SEC According to On3.
Olivia "Livvy" Dunne ($3.9M Valuation)
The senior gymnast from LSU was part of the national championship team in 2023. Dunne has been crushing it in the NIL space and recently landed a record-setting NIL deal.
Dunne has 13 million followers on social media between Instagram and Tik Tok combined. The past few years, Dunne teamed up with former LSU basketball star, Angel Reese as part of a philanthropic effort to help all LSU athletes that may not earn as much in the NIL space due to sports that are not as mainstream.
Dunne ranks second amongst all college athletes according to On3.
Arch Manning ($2.4M Valuation)
Although Manning has been in the Big 12 his first year in college, the Texas Longhorns make their way to the SEC in only a few months, so he counts!
Let us be honest, the Manning name carries a lot of weight in helping this soon-to-be sophomore backup quarterback be as valued as he is. Arch is the grandson of former Ole Miss Quarterback Archie Manning and Nephew of former Ole Miss Quarterback Eli Manning and Tennessee Quarterback Peyton Manning.
According to the New York Times, Manning recently signed a deal with Panini America, a trading card company. Manning’s jersey sales are also some of the top in college football.
Manning has 225,000 followers on Instagram and 67,000 followers on X (formerly known as Twitter).
With NCAA Football 14 being the last video game for college football to be released, many were anticipating one of the biggest names in college football to be in its upcoming rendition, College Football 25. Thus far however, Manning has opted out.
While Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian is expected to start the season with returning starting quarterback, Quinn Ewers, do not be surprised if Arch Manning gets a chance this coming season after a promising spring.
Manning fifth amongst all college athletes according to On3.
Quinn Ewers ($1.9M Valuation)
Is this not odd? Although Ewers has an impressive NIL valuation, he is a couple hundred thousand dollars behind his Longhorns teammate and backup quarterback, Arch Manning. Ewers has 265,000 followers on social media and his main NIL deal is with a private jet company, Nicholas Air, which is also contracted with Ole Miss quarterback, Jaxson Dart.
Ewers’s men’s Nike Texas orange Longhorns NIL replica football jersey is selling well on the shelves to further help him in the NIL space.
Ewers is one of the top prospects for the 2025 NFL draft and ranks sixth amongst all college athletes according to On3.
Jalen Milroe ($1.6M Valuation)
Milroe’s “LANK” brand with former Alabama Crimson Tide teammate Terion Arnold took the country by storm in 2023 and netted Milroe and Arnold quite a bit monetarily.
According to Touchdown Alabama, the Alabama quarterback also received a new NIL deal back in March with Six Star Pro Nutrition, which is the number one supplemental brand.
Milroe ranks seventh amongst all college athletes according to On3.
Carson Beck ($1.6M Valuation)
The Georgia Bulldogs starting quarterback returns to Athens for his fourth season in 2024 and second as the teams starting quarterback as a much richer man than when he walked in. According to Dawgnation.com, Beck inked an NIL deal with “The Players’ Lounge” back in March. The Players’ Lounge is a marketing company that allows athletes to drive their own content and experiences, sharing them with the world.
Beck ranks eighth amongst all college athletes according to On3.
Jaxson Dart ($1.5M Valuation)
Like his conference quarterback foe Quinn Ewers mentioned earlier, Dart has an NIL deal with private jet company, Nicholas Air. Dart was actually the first to sign with a private jet company, and Ewers followed after.
Dart ranks ninth amongst all college athletes according to On3.
Who are the Top Earning NIL College Athletes Outside the SEC?
Outside of the SEC, top NIL earners are Colorado Buffaloes quarterback, Shedeur Sanders at a $4.6M valuation which ranks first in the country, Bronny James with an NIL valuation of $3.7M ranking third in the country and Colorado Buffaloes cornerback Travis Hunter with an NIL valuation of $2.7M ranking fourth in the country.
Shedeur and Bronny may sound familiar as they are the sons of Deion Sanders and Lebron James. These two combine with Arch Manning as the University of Texas show that the “name” part of name image likeness really does carry weight as well.