Self-Presentation of NIL-Participating Student-Athletes on Instagram

When the NCAA adopted a policy that enabled student-athletes to profit off their Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) in 2021, a billion-dollar industry was born. Despite the industry's rapid growth, empirical data is limited on how athletes are student-athletes managing impressions in the NIL era, let alone how audiences are engaging with their self-presentation strategies. The present study aims to supply much-needed research into the self-presentation strategies of 100 male and 100 female student-athletes on Instagram across sponsored, athletic, and non-athletic, non-sponsored content. The study found that NIL-participating student-athletes use Instagram to present their idealized self in addition to significant differences in self-presentation strategies and audience engagement based on gender, sport characteristics, and school characteristics. The study’s findings extend existing research on front versus backstage self-presentation and on female athletes being seen as bodies first. These findings can help universities, brands, and athletes understand how student-athletes are managing impressions on Instagram in the dawn of NIL to inform self-presentation strategies.