On3 NIL 100: Ranking the Top 25 most valuable high school and college athletes

The Name, Image and Likeness era got off and running this past year, and On3 is diving in head-first. On Jan. 7, the first On3 NIL 100 dropped — featuring some big names in the top 25.

The rankings feature high school and college athletes based on On3 NIL Valuation. Among the top five are three high school players: Bronny James, Mikey Williams and Arch Manning. It also shows the change in each players’ valuation and how many social media followers they have.

The NIL 100 Top 25

1. Bronny James: High school basketball — $5.1 million
2. Mikey Williams: High school basketball — $2.6 million
3. Bryce Young: Alabama football — $1.8 million
4. Arch Manning: High school football — $1.6 million
5. CJ Stroud: Ohio State football — $1.1 million
6. Travis Hunter: High school football — $870,000
7. Evan Stewart: High school football — $801,000
8. Will Anderson: Alabama football — $718,000
9. Spencer Rattler: South Carolina football —$693,000
10. Amari Bailey: High school basketball — $588,000
11. Aidan Hutchinson: Michigan football — $557,000
12. Dior Johnson: High school basketball — $522,000
13. Emoni Bates: Memphis basketball — $506,000
14. JD Davison: Alabama basketball — $445,000
15. Caleb Williams: Oklahoma/NCAA Transfer Portal football — $434,000
16. Braden Galloway: Clemson football — $433,000
17. Chris Olave: Ohio State football — $423,000
18. Dorian Thompson-Robinson: UCLA basketball — $406,000
19. Kenny Pickett: Pitt football — $401,000
20. Matt Corral: Ole Miss football — $364,000
21. Jameson Williams: Alabama football — $364,000
22. Jaxon Smith-Njigba: Ohio State sophomore — $357,000
23. Jared McCain: High school basketball — $323,000
24. Kayvon Thibodeaux: Oregon football — $319,000
25. Skyy Clark: High school basketball — $313,000

About On3 NIL Valuation, Per Post Value, and the On3 NIL 100

The On3 NIL Valuation is an index that looks to set the standard market value for both high school and college-level athletes. The NIL valuation does not act as a tracker of the value of NIL deals an athlete has completed to date. It rather signifies an athlete’s value at a certain moment in time.

The NIL valuation is comprised of a number of dynamic data points that focus on two primary factors – an athlete’s social media presence and their level of athletic performance.

A base valuation is generated from the number of followers on each social media platform an athlete has (Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok). Each platform is weighted differently based on the number of marketing dollars that brands and advertisers typically spend on each.

With a baseline established through their individual social platforms, an athlete may also receive various boosts or penalties based on the following factors:

• Engagement
  • Athletes are assessed on how much engagement their posts and stories generate. Athletes that consistently show high engagement rates will receive a boost while those with low engagement rates receive a minor penalty.
• Relative Social Media Strength
  • In order to maintain parity, athletes are not penalized for not having strong followings across all 3 social media platforms. However, a boost is applied for athletes with strong followings and engagement across all three platforms relative to their peer group.
• College Prestige
  • Each college is ranked from top to bottom, with athletes attending the top-ranked colleges receiving the highest boosts. High school athletes receive a partial boost once they commit to a college and receive 100% of the boost value once they are enrolled.
    The colleges are ranked on the following:
    • Team Ranking per sport
    • College TV Ratings
    • College Revenues from sports
• Individual Player Rankings
  • Utilizing On3’s rankings, an athlete’s recruiting or On300 ranking will give them a boost according to their ranking. Once an athlete is in college, the On300 player impact ranking is used instead of their recruiting ranking.
• Position
  • For college football only. The QB position is the highest-rated position, followed by skill positions – RB, WR, TE, CB, S, Edge. There are no boosts or penalties for the other positions in football. In basketball, there are no boosts for position.
• Gameday Performance
  • Athletes who excel on a particular game day will receive minor bonuses for their performance.
    The gameday boosters can be for the following:
    • Conference Players of the Week
    • National Players of the Week
    • Team Win (opposition strength is factored in)
    • Outstanding performances on gameday, especially in key games with large viewership
• Prestigious Achievements
  • Athletes nominated (or those in the running at earlier stages in the season) for awards such as the Heisman Trophy will receive a boost. As the odds change throughout the season for the leading contenders, so will the boost. The maximum points awarded for this boost are applied once the winner and finalists have been announced with the winner receiving the highest boost and the other finalist sharing the remaining points based on their final position.
• Legacy
  • Athletes who come from prestigious/ famous families will receive a boost. These boosts are usually applied to athletes who come from a family with national fame. An example of a legacy boost is Bronny James who is the son of Lebron James.
• Media
  • Athletes who appear in major publications or are highlighted in productions and special features on major networks will receive boosts or penalties based on the positivity or negativity of each article. This is not solely based on the number of articles or productions but rather the sentiment of the articles.
• Existing NIL Deals
  • As part of the valuation, deal flow is considered and athletes that are signing a large number of valuable contracts will indeed be boosted to reflect their success in the market. This is a relatively minor boost and the increase in the value of the athlete is not equal to the value of the deals they have signed. This is solely a marker to reflect an athlete’s ability to get deals signed and executed.