The top college athletes aren't just doing "posts" for money. They use a ​Three-Tiered Revenue Model​ that your athletes can start mimicking in high school:​

1. Tier 1: The Collective (The "Salary"):​ This is the team-specific money.​ The Truth:​ This is mostly based on "Roster Value." You don't "earn" this through marketing; you earn it by being a high-level recruit.​

2. Tier 2: Brand Partnerships (The "Equity"):​ This is Beats by Dre, Gatorade, etc. The Trend:​ Top athletes are moving away from "One-off posts" toward ​Long-term Ambassadorships.​ They want 12-month contracts, not 24-hour IG stories.​

3. Tier 3: Owned Media (The "Legacy"):​ This is the most important. They own their YouTube channels, podcasts, and apparel lines.​The Logic:​ When the jersey comes off, the audience stays. They are "Platform Independent."​

Everyone is chasing Nike. Your athletes should chase the ​Local Business Owner with 5 Locations.​

1. The "Savvy" Insight:​ A local HVAC company or Law Firm has a marketing budget of $50k–$100k/year. They don't want a "national" influencer; they want the "Hometown Hero."​

2. The Strategy:​ Tell your athletes to look for businesses that ​already sponsor the high school stadium.​ Those businesses already see value in high school sports; they just haven't been asked to sponsor a ​specific​ athlete yet.​

To help them follow the 1%, you must build a ​"NIL Business Binder"​ while they are still in high school:​

A. The "Clean Slate" Digital Audit​

Top athletes have "Brand Safety." If an athlete has polarizing, offensive, or "party-heavy" content, they are a ​Liability​, not an Asset.​

B. The "Engagement over Followers" Rule​

Google says you need 100k followers. That’s a lie.​

The Reality:​ A recruit with 2,000 followers who are all ​local parents, coaches, and business owners​ is more valuable to a local car dealership than a kid with 50k bot followers.​​

C. The "Non-Exclusive" Clause​

This is the biggest mistake. A kid signs a deal with a local "Energy Drink" in high school, then gets to college and finds out he can't sign with Gatorade because his HS contract was too broad.​

. Rule #1: ​Never sign away your "Category Rights" for more than 12 months.​

D. The "30% Rule" (The Business Mindset)​

Top college athletes have accountants. Your HS athletes need a ​Tax Reserve.​

· The Advice:​ "The second you get paid $1,000 for a camp appearance, $300 goes into a separate 'Tax Savings' account. If you don't do this, the IRS will hit you hard.”​