Student-athletes begin executing adidas Title IX NIL deals

Last week, adidas announced that 15 student-athletes have signed on to the sportswear brand in recognition of the 50th anniversary of Title IX. This week some of those athletes began executing their NIL deals.

A number of the adidas’ sponsored student-athletes shared social media posts promoting Ultraboost 1.0 in their school’s official colorways. In addition, several of the adidas NIL deal posts were also shared by the school’s official athletic Twitter accounts.

For example, Louisville women’s basketball player Hailey Van Lith shared two photos of the new Cardinals-themed adidas Ultraboost. Van Lith has a monster social media presence with more than 700,000 followers on her Instagram account. The post promoting the new shoes generated more than 21,000 likes on Instagram – in less than 2 hours. The promotion tweet already has more than 350 likes.

Details ✨ New heat for #theville. ❤️‍🔥

Get early access to the @adidas Ultraboost 1.0 Louisville colorway: https://t.co/SoTsPiqhEu #createdwithadidas #gocards pic.twitter.com/fQpmsWiW8t

— HVL (@haileyvanlith) August 15, 2022

Adidas Title IX NIL deals get support from key accounts

At NC State, the school’s official athletic Twitter account – @PackAthletics – tweeted three pictures with soccer players Jaiden Thomas and Jameese Joseph promoting the new adidas shoes and the NIL deal. Joseph is one of the top soccer players in the ACC. Plus, she has a strong following on Instagram.

#WPN 👟🐺
Introducing the all-new @adidas Ultraboost 1.0 NC State colorway. adiClub Members get exclusive early access starting 8/29.

Become a member today: https://t.co/aPb57RZIOo#Createdwithadidas #StrengthInThePack pic.twitter.com/U3wReOEcc5

— NC State Athletics (@PackAthletics) August 15, 2022

It was a similar story at Miami with track and field athlete Moriah Oliveira. She is the focus of a tweet showcasing the shoes in Canes’ colors. Fresh off a strong season that saw her win the 400-meter race at the indoor ACC Championships and qualify for the outdoor NCAA championships for the first time, Oliveira is the only track athlete in the country chosen to represent the 3-stripes in the NIL deal. The official Georgia Tech athletics Twitter account also retweeted volleyball player Erin Moss’s NIL deal promoting the shoes.

While other companies have announced significant NIL deals to honor the 50th anniversary of Title IX, none have come from such a unique brand as adidas. It’s why the NIL deal was recently recognized as one of the biggest deals so far this year. Furthermore, the social media presence from multiple schools’ main athletic department accounts showcases how entrenched NIL has become in college athletics over the past year.