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Abstract
The purpose of the study was to examine prevalence, engagement, and fan sentiment toward the professional and collegiate female and male athlete endorsement posts on official Instagram accounts of Nike, Under Armour, and Adidas between July 1, 2021, when NIL legislation went into effect, to July 1, 2023. This study contributes to the existing literature on NIL, particularly concerning fan responses to athlete endorsements. Data was collected through content analysis and sentiment analysis to examine each athlete endorsement and its fan response. The research suggests that college athletes represent a small portion of athlete endorsements for large brands, however, fans are responding positively to college athlete endorsements, favoring male college athlete endorsements over female college athlete endorsements.
