Haley, Hanna Cavinder reveal how NIL impacted their social media presence

Arguably, no female college athletes have better maximized their NIL (name, image and likeness) opportunities while in college like the Cavinder Twins. And it’s easy to see how.

As college basketball players at Fresno State and Miami, Haley and Hanna Cavinder revolutionized how female athletes can utilize NIL by monetizing their personal social platforms. Those efforts helped the 25-year-old twins set the stage for their post-college careers as social media influencers and budding entrepreneurs, and maybe future WWE superstars.

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Haley and Hanna Cavinder opened up about their own experience with NIL and how it helped shape their future outside of athletics during a recent sit-down with former WWE executive Stephanie McMahon. She is the daughter of WWE co-founder Vince McMahon.

“I think nowadays, name, image and likeness for female athletes in college has been so huge,” Haley Cavinder told McMahon on her What’s Your Story? with Steph McMahon podcast. “Because even in women’s basketball, there’s such a limited percentage of you going pro. … So being able to learn about the networking and the name of the game in college for females has been good to see. The younger generation can (learn how) you can maximize your name, image and likeness in college and kind of profit off that, and then learn your entrepreneurial skills and business skills for the future when you graduate.

“So I think it’s been so beneficial for females, and it’s so good to see. Because you never would have thought (about) name, image and likeness for female athletes. It’s always about the quarterback at the big Power Five schools.”

McMahon harkened back to a previous conversation with Livvy Dunne about how the former LSU gymnast-turned-content creator started an educational program for female collegiate athletes to learn the ins and outs of making the most of their NIL opportunities while in school. It was then that Hanna Cavinder highlighted the importance of building a strong foundation while in school, including signing with a reputable agency, to better be able to hit the ground running upon graduation.

“And you can set yourself up right afterwards too. … How you continue it, because everybody’s always like, ‘What’s next?’ And I think it’s really important to have a team (around you),” Hanna Cavinder added. “We have a great agency that we’ve been with for five years and they’re very big on getting us equity within deals, having us start our own brands, and being very creative within those brands. So I think that’s really important too, and it’s amazing that Livvy is doing that too.”

The Cavinder twins first signed with WWE in 2021, as part of their Next In Line (NIL) program to develop college athletes into professional wrestlers. One of the signings from that class, Isaac Odugbesan (Oba Femi), is making his WrestleMania debut against Brock Lesnar in the coming weeks.

The Cavinders, meanwhile, have continued to bolster their public image by signing endorsement deals with Champs Sports, SoFi, Eastbay, and GoPuff. They were even tabbed as brand ambassadors for Under Armour in July 2024 and are part of MGM’s Final Four advertising this weekend in Las Vegas.

— On3’s Daniel Hager contributed to this report.