The number of millionaire college athletes has tripled. Here are the top 10 earners this year.

By Weston Blasi

More college athletes are making over $1 million from NIL, and most of them play the same position

There are more millionaire college athletes than ever before.

Last October, there were just 10 NCAA athletes who had NIL earnings of at least $1 million, according to On3's NIL deal tracker. That number grew to 24 during last season's March Madness basketball tournament, and now sits at 34 athletes.

College athletes have been allowed to make money from their name, image and likeness since 2021, after decades of not being able to make money as college athletes. For decades, many student-athletes lamented the rules that barred them from seeking any form of financial payment while the games they played in generated millions of dollars - especially in football and basketball.

NIL deals can come in many forms, are negotiated by college athletes and their representation, and the deals typically involve leveraging an athlete's influence. A car dealership located near a college may give the school's starting quarterback a monetary payment (or even a car) if he appears in a TV commercial for the dealership. An athlete can also ink sponsorship deals by leveraging their social-media following, depending on how big their digital reach is.

Some athletes and colleges also work with collectives that can raise money to bolster schools' recruiting efforts. These collectives can receive money from boosters or fans, which are then used to lure recruits to the school.

Unlike previous years for the top 10 NIL earners, this year's list is nearly all football players. In past years there were several women's basketball players (Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, for example), as well as men's basketball players like Bronny James.

Nine of the 10 top earners play football, and of those nine football players, there's only one non-quarterback. Here are the college athletes who make the most money from NIL deals, according to On3's proprietary NIL algorithm, which is based on deal data, performance, influence and exposure.

Tie-8. Nico Lamaleava, $1.9 million

Nico Lamaleava, the redshirt freshman quarterback for the Tennessee Volunteers football team, has led the university to a 4-0 record to start the season. Tennessee is currently the No. 4-ranked team in the nation, and Lamaleava has the fourth-best odds to win the Heisman Trophy, the yearly award given to the top player in college football.

Lamaleava has NIL deals with wellness brand Force Factor, memorabilia company Top Tier Authentic, Apple's (AAPL) Beats by Dre and the university's own NIL platform Volunteer Club. He also has 353,000 followers on social media.

Tie-8. Carson Beck, $1.9 million

Georgia quarterback Carson Beck entered the season as one of the nation's top-rated players. Beck, a redshirt senior, has seven touchdowns and zero interceptions so far this season.

He has NIL deals with Beats by Dre, Powerade, Chipotle (CMG) and Electronic Arts (EA), and has 132,000 followers across his social-media platforms.

Tie-8. Cam Ward, $1.9 million

Senior quarterback Cam Ward has led the Miami Hurricanes to a perfect 4-0 start to the college football season. Ward has a total of 15 touchdowns this season and just two interceptions - he is also the oddsmakers' favorite to win the Heisman Trophy.

Ward's NIL deals are with the Miami-centric NIL collective Canes Connection, EA Sports, Panini America and C4 Energy. He has the lowest social-media reach of any player in the NIL top 10 at 67,000 total followers.

7. Jaxson Dart, $2.1 million

Senior quarterback Jaxson Dart led Ole Miss to a Peach Bowl victory last season, and has picked up this year right where he left off. The Rebels are 4-0, and Dart has 1,554 passing yards in four games.

Dart has NIL deals with the school's NIL program called The Grove Collective, EA Sports and Dick's Sporting Goods (DKS). He also has 181,000 followers on social media.

See: If NFL star Tua Tagovailoa retires, here's what happens to his $212 million contract

Tie-5. Jalen Milroe, $2.2 million

It pays to be the quarterback of the University of Alabama football team. Redshirt junior Jalen Milroe has led the Crimson Tide to a 4-0 record, and is currently the third-most-likely player to win the Heisman Trophy, according to odds from FanDuel (UK:FLTR).

Milroe has 272,000 followers on social media and has NIL deals with Celsius, Six Star Pro Nutrition and Beats by Dre.

Tie-5. Quinn Ewers, $2.2 million

Texas Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers is viewed as one of the top prospects in all of college football. The redshirt junior recently suffered an abdominal injury and had to miss last week's game.

Ewers has NIL deals with Dr Pepper (KDP), Athletic Brewing company, private jet company Nicholas Air and EA Sports. He is the cover athlete of the "College Football 25" videogame, which has reaped hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue so far.

Ewers has 293,000 followers on social media, but is not the top NIL earner on his own team.

Tie-3. Arch Manning, $3.1 million

Quinn Ewers's backup at the University of Texas is sophomore Arch Manning, the nephew of Super Bowl champion quarterbacks Peyton and Eli Manning, and the grandson of former NFL quarterback Archie Manning.

Filling in for the injured Ewers, Manning made his first collegiate start last weekend and led the No. 1-ranked Longhorns to a 51-3 win over Louisiana-Monroe. Manning has 345,000 followers on social media and has NIL deals with Panini America and EA Sports.

See: Want to watch every NFL game this season? It's going to cost you nearly $2,500.

Tie-3. Travis Hunter, $3.1 million

After transferring from Jackson State to the University of Colorado two years ago, Travis Hunter's star has only continued to rise. Hunter, a five-star junior prospect, plays on both offense and defense - as a wide receiver and a defensive back - a rarity in a high-level college football.

Hunter has NIL deals with United Airlines (UAL), Cheez-It, 7-Eleven and American Eagle Outfitters (AEO), and has over 3 million followers on social media. Deion Sanders, his coach at Colorado, has publicly stated that rival teams in the NCAA have tried to lure Hunter away from the school with NIL offers of around $1.5 million.

ESPN NFL draft expert Mel Kiper said Hunter may be the "best pure football player" in the 2025 class and is poised to enter the draft next year. Last year's No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft, Caleb Williams, got an NFL rookie contract for nearly $40 million.

2. Livvy Dunne, $4 million

Olivia "Livvy" Dunne is the only woman athlete in the top 10 NIL earners this year. The senior on the Louisiana State University gymnastics team has the most followers of any college athlete at 13.6 million.

Since college athletes have been able to capitalize on their influence, Dunne has been seen as one of NIL's major success stories. Dunne said last year she could earn as much as $500,000 from a single social-media post.

Dunne has NIL deals with Nautica, Peyton Mannings's Omaha Productions, Body Armor (KO), Motorola and Vuori.

1. Shedeur Sanders, $5.1 million

Senior Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Shedeur Sanders is the top NIL earner in all of college sports at $5.1 million, up from an estimated $4.8 million a year ago.

Colorado has become one of the top stories in college sports since Shedeur's father - and NFL legend - Deion Sanders took over as coach in 2022. Coach Prime's team is currently 3-1 and is frequently one of the most-watched teams in college football.

The younger Sanders has NIL deals with Nike (NKE), Beats by Dre, Google (GOOG) (GOOGL), Topps, Urban Outfitters (URBN), Oikos, Mercedes-Benz (XE:MBG) and KFC (YUM). He also has 2.3 million followers on social media.

Many draft experts believe Sanders could be a first-round NFL pick after the season, which would mean he'd receive $12 million in guaranteed money on his rookie NFL contract at a minimum.

See: Shohei Ohtani clinched 50/50 while only making $2 million. Here's how much his season was really worth to his team.

-Weston Blasi

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09-25-24 1547ET

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