Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) is a revolutionary marketing tool that allows college athletes to monetize their personal brand through commercial activities. These activities include endorsements, event appearances, and creating compelling content for partners. Since its inception in mid-2021, the NIL market has seen explosive growth and has established itself as a legitimate and durable marketing channel. The market is estimated to reach a size of approximately $2.75 billion by the 2025-2026 season.

Advantages to leveraging the NIL landscape

Using NIL for military recruiting offers a proven and efficient model to connect with Gen Z, a demographic that is increasingly difficult to reach through traditional methods. Today’s marketing challenge is a “crisis of connection,” and NIL provides a strategic solution.

• Builds Trust: Gen Z values peer recommendations and trusts authentic voices over institutional messages. NIL partnerships leverage the credibility of local college athletes to share an authentic story of service, bridging the information gap for a generation with limited firsthand exposure to military life.
• Meets Gen Z Where They Are: This generation is native to social media, and an effective communication model must meet them on the platforms where they consume information. College athlete audiences are composed of 65-70% Gen Z, providing a direct line to the core recruitment demographic.
• Outperforms Traditional Media: NIL marketing has proven to be a more efficient path to recruitment. It generates approximately 17 times higher engagement than traditional media and achieves more than double the lead conversion rate compared to traditional advertising.

How Blackhorse Management Uses NIL for Recruitment

Blackhorse Management leverages its unique combination of deep military understanding and elite sports marketing experience to structure high-impact partnerships for long-term results. Our strategy is designed to maximize influence, flexibility, and measurable ROI.

We provide end-to-end execution—from athlete recruitment and compliance to content production and data-driven performance reporting. We structure these agreements to secure broad licensing rights, turning athlete content into a permanent library of high-quality recruiting assets.

This approach allows us to meet prospects at every stage of the recruitment journey. By using the right messengers, our campaigns generate awareness, create interest, educate prospects, and ultimately convert high-quality leads for recruiters. We track key performance indicators (KPIs) like audience reach, engagement, content performance, and lead generation to continuously optimize our strategy and maximize campaign impact.

Check out our NIL in military recruiting service page here to learn more about our service and how we can help your business, or contact us today!