Alabama Football: NIL Social Media Valuation
University of Alabama football has been in a league of its own over the past decade. The Crimson Tide have won 4 BCS National Championships and have consistently landed many of the top recruits from across the nation. As a brand, Alabama football has remained at the top of the food chain.
With groundbreaking legislation on the way from the NCAA regarding name, image and likeness rules, Alabama players are already in a position to take full advantage. After dissecting the Alabama football roster on social media platforms Instagram and Twitter, it's clear that the term "Roll Tide" applies to much more than sports. The chart below details the Top 15 players on the Alabama roster in terms of their social media footprint. Overall numbers are reflective of the entire roster.
More states are continuing to pass name, image and likeness legislation after California passed SB206 last year with the help of LeBron James and others. Most recently, a bipartisan bill presented to the Michigan House for NIL rule changes was approved with a 94-13 vote.
Class of 2016 RB Najee Harris from Antioch HS (CA) leads the way for Alabama players who can potentially benefit from new NIL rule changes in the NCAA. Harris has grown a large social media following on Instagram (174k) and despite joining the Twitter party late in 2017, he's already grown his account to over 17,000 followers. As of today, Najee Harris has a social media market value of over $150,000 per year based on the $.80 per follower model. Considering the Alabama football brand, in addition to the Twitter and Instagram accounts of Harris being verified, that value is likely much higher.
Pound-for-pound, Bama has a cult-like following. Over 48 players on the current Alabama roster have over 10,000 combined followers on Instagram and Twitter, resulting in a cumulative team NIL earning potential as social media influencers of $1,268,000+ annually.
The top 5 players with the most reach on the the Alabama roster could potentially earn a combined $460,000 or more per year. That group includes Najee Harris, Jaylen Waddle, Devonta Smith, Mac Jones and Bryce Young. Both Harris and Young are products of California and their elite recruit status throughout their HS careers helped propel them into the national spotlight.
It's important to note that the SEC, along with the other Power 5 conferences, has spent over $350,000 so far in 2020 to lobby congress in an attempt to influence the direction of name, image and likeness rule changes, with the Southeastern Conference being the largest contributor to those efforts.