The news: Powerade, the sports drink owned by Coca-Cola, is making an aggressive push into college sports by signing endorsement deals with 35 athletes and launching a marketing campaign that spotlights rising football stars, per Bloomberg. The strategy also includes a long-term partnership with the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament.

Zoom out: Rival brands like Pepsi have scooped up major sponsorship deals with professional athletes, increasing the cost of partnering with high-profile competitors and leaving few significant names up for grabs.

• But college sports are a different story. Since name, image, and likeness (NIL) rights were granted to college athletes in 2021, an entirely new market has opened up for major brands looking to make inroads with sports audiences. Powerade’s deals are timely: The college football season begins this weekend, almost one week before the NFL season.
• Professional football still vastly outperforms college football in viewership. Of the top 100 broadcasts in 2023, 93 were NFL matches, while just three were college football contests.
• Still, college sports has its advantages. Signing college athletes is likely cheaper than working with major leagues’ biggest stars and can give brands long-lasting connections for when those students go pro; for example, University of Georgia player Carson Beck is a contender for the top pick in the NFL draft.
• By its nature, college sports also attracts key demographics in hyperlocal areas that can help brands craft advertising material to appeal to specific audiences and forge lasting relationships with schools.

Our take: The college sports market is heating up, fueled in part by the rise of womens sports. This year’s March Madness tournament soared to record viewership thanks to stars like Caitlin Clark, leading ESPN to sign a major deal and driving brands like Powerade to follow suit. As sports viewership grows, the brands that get in early and develop relationships will win out in the long term.