Notre Dame's Sam Hartman sees social media following soar

The Notre Dame experiment has gone well, so far, for Sam Hartman.

The decision to leave Wake Forest and join one of the most historic college football programs immediately put him on the national stage. No doubt he found success with the Demon Deacons. But wearing the golden helmet just guarantees more eyeballs are focused on the quarterback.

Halfway through October, the season has definitely come with its bumps and bruises. Hartman was visibly stunned on the sidelines when Ohio State pieced together a game-winning drive in the final minute of last month’s top-10 showdown. The Fighting Irish rallied for a gutsy win at Duke but everything came unraveled in the 33-20 loss to Louisville.

Last Saturday, however, everything seemed to come together. Hartman did not have his best game – he threw for just 126 yards – as Notre Dame embarrassed USC in South Bend. But winning the big game, knocking off Caleb Williams and the undefeated Trojans felt special to the sixth-year player.

“I’m so grateful for that,” Hartman said in his postgame news conference. “Grateful for this fan base and everything. I freaking love the Irish.”

The Irish love him, too.

Associating himself with the Notre Dame brand has paid off in a big way this season. In part to the national stage he’s been playing on, social media has met Sam Hartman.

The quarterback had 135,000 followers across Instagram, X and TikTok on Sept. 19, days before Notre Dame’s matchup with the Buckeyes. Since then he’s played four consecutive prime-time ranked games. His following has grown to roughly 279,900 – adding 144,900 followers in less than a month.

Maybe it’s the vaunted black beard that’s gained the attention. Hartman inked an endorsement deal with Dollar Shave Club last month. And he’s become the star of countless TikTok posts.

The uptick in his social media following could equal NIL deals in the long run, too. Outside of agreements with NIL collectives, social media posts have become the leading activity for athletes. Boasting a large following across Instagram and TikTok, specifically, can make all the difference in compensation.

Hartman’s name is still in the Heisman Trophy race, with his odds sitting at +8000, according to BetMGM. He’s thrown for 1,838 yards with 18 touchdowns and just three interceptions in eight games. The 15th-ranked Fighting Irish have four games remaining, including a Nov. 18 date with Hartman’s former team, Wake Forest.

Sam Hartman’s On3 NIL Valuation up 14%

Repped by Vayner Sports, the Notre Dame quarterback has put together one of college football’s most impressive NIL portfolios. He became the first college athlete to sign a contract with Under Armour, gifting each member of his team a new pair of SlipSpeed shoes before the Fighting Irish traveled to Dublin for a Week 0 matchup against Navy. Hartman has since appeared in promotional content for the sportswear brand across social media.

A member of Beats by Dre’s inaugural “Beats Elite” class, he partnered with Homefield Apparel before the Ohio State game to release a Sam Hartman T-shirt.

Sam Hartman holds a $1.3 million On3 NIL Valuation, which ranks No. 11 in the college football NIL rankings. He’s slated at No. 14 in the On3 NIL 100, the first of its kind and defacto NIL ranking of the top 100 high school and college athletes ranked by their On3 NIL Valuation.

His valuation has seen a notable uptick in the last 10 weeks, too. The quarterback’s valuation is up by $150,000, roughly 14%. The On3 NIL Valuation is the industry’s leading index that sets the standard market NIL value for high school and college athletes. A proprietary algorithm, the On3 NIL Valuation calculates an athlete’s NIL value using dynamic data points targeting three primary categories: performance, influence and exposure.

About On3 NIL Valuation, Brand Value, Roster Value

While the algorithm includes deal data, it does not act as a tracker of the value of NIL deals athletes have completed to date, nor does it set an athlete’s NIL valuation for their entire career. The On3 NIL Valuation calculates the optimized NIL opportunity for athletes relative to the overall NIL market and projects out to as long as 12 months into the future.