College Sports Is Becoming a Data Business | EP196

College Sports Is Becoming a Data Business | EP196

May 26, 2026 · 54 min · Episode 196

About this episode

The episode discusses the transformation of college sports into a data-driven marketing business, focusing on NIL and athlete branding.

Why NIL needs data, why athlete brands matter, and how college sports is becoming a marketing business. College sports is moving fast. NIL, revenue sharing, transfer rules, donor fatigue, social media, compliance, brand deals, and athlete value are all colliding at once. Brent Wall, founder and CEO of Student Athlete Score, joins Eric Kasimov to talk through what is actually happening in the NIL market. Student Athlete Score helps schools, brands, and athletes understand social influence, audience quality, brand fit, and the real marketing value behind athlete deals. Eric and Brent get into the chaos around NIL, the rise of athlete personal brands, the growing youth sports market, the role of AI and data, and why local brand deals may be one of the most interesting parts of this whole shift. They also talk about college sports becoming more professional, what that means for Olympic sports and mid-majors, and why athletes now have to think about life beyond sports earlier than ever. Chapters 00:00 – Ann Arbor, Michigan sports, and the business behind athletics 01:50 – The professionalization of sports at every level 03:01 – Why athletes now need to build personal brands 05:51 –…

People in this episode

Host: Eric Kasimov

Guest: Brent Wall

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Student Athlete Score

Places: Ann Arbor, Michigan

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