Cavinder twins primed to build off NIL success, set example for college athletes

Sitting on The Today Show set in New York City, the Cavinder twins formally ended their reign on NIL in college athletics.

What the NIL picture looks like in five or 10 years remains to be seen. A television revenue-sharing model could be coming. The NCAA as we know it may not exist in the next iteration of college sports.

Whatever the last 21 months have been, athletes have finally been allowed to monetize their name, image and likeness rights without risking their so-called “amateur status.”

Haley and Hanna Cavinder will always be tied to this era. They announced their first partnership as college athletes in Times Square with Boost Mobile nearly two years ago. As of this week, they’ve signed NIL deals with upward of 23 companies.

Leaving college and the game of basketball isn’t an end to the brand the Cavinders have built, though. They plan to use their more than 5.3 million social media followers and 88,300 YouTube subscribers as a launching point for their futures.

“I think just being able to optimize and to be able to monetize as a student-athlete, especially female athletes because not everybody has the opportunity to go pro,” Hanna told The Today Show. “I think we’ll be prime examples to show people what you can do after college with NIL experience.”

The past year has been a hectic one for the twins. They announced their decision to leave Fresno State and enter the transfer portal last spring, landing in Miami. Moving to South Beach came with more NIL opportunities and a chance at making the NCAA tournament. The plan worked, as the Hurricanes advanced to the Elite Eight, falling to eventual national champion LSU.

It all came with a hitch, though. Back in February, the NCAA came down with a recruiting violation on Miami regarding the Cavinders. According to the NCAA, the twins had dinner with Miami booster John Ruiz during their recruitment process.

Given the opportunity to refute the NCAA’s findings on Thursday, the Cavinders made it clear they followed the governing body’s rules.

“I don’t think they are petty,” Hanna said. “I think that if you do things the right way, which everything was legal that we were doing and follow compliance  – NIL is not an issue.”

Using NIL as platform for future

The decision to leave college and Miami doesn’t come without a plan. The twins have worked with Everett Sports Management since the jump of NIL. Introduced to the sports marketing firm by attorney Darren Heitner, ESM has brought them long-term deals with Champs Sports and WWE. ESM’s Jeff Hoffman will continue to represent Haley and Hanna post-college.

ESM has already lined up two opportunities for the twins. The first is a multi-year partnership with Caktus, an artificial intelligence company which they’ve previously worked with. The details of the agreement have not been disclosed. But the Cavinders will promote the software which assists students in classwork.

“Engagement throughout following, that’s one of the main things we’re always looking at,” Caktus co-founder Harrison Leonard told On3. “How can we be the most creative, unconventional style brand? Sure, there are a lot of people out there who get plenty of likes and views. But when you look at the Cavinders, they also have a following that cares. You go look at their comments, people are saying ‘good luck’ before their game.

“From a brand perspective, we really want to work with creators who have an engaged following.”

A source with direct knowledge of the other deal said the twins have signed a media partnership, which will include their podcast called “Twin Talk.” The deal will keep them in the sports conversation while partnering with some of the top social media influencers. On Wednesday, they released a TikTok with the influencer Deestroying.

While those are two notable, long-term partnerships it doesn’t eliminate the possibility of one-off endorsement deals. And they also have not ruled out WWE, a brand they’ve been associated with since the early days of NIL.

Leaving Miami early does end their basketball careers. But building brands away from college athletics could create a precedent for what athletes can do with their budding NIL brands.

“I wouldn’t say I’m choosing the money over the sport,” Haley said. “I think we had a great four years of college basketball. Without COVID, we wouldn’t even have the opportunity to go back for a fifth year. So, I think just positioning ourselves to be successful beyond the years of college sports. Being a female athlete, there’s very little chance to go be very successful in women’s basketball.

“We can show the younger generation if you prioritize NIL in college, you can set yourself up for success beyond basketball.”