Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, and other athletes who are raising the sponsorship bar in women's sports this year

Jeff Dean // Getty Images In a year where two of the most prominent leagues for women’s sports shattered attendance and viewership records, the brightest stars are cultivating burgeoning audiences on social media–audiences that those players can now leverage for lucrative sponsorship deals as early as their college years. Collabstr analyzed data from SponsorUnited to rank the athletes in women’s sports whose social followings grew across all platforms the most over the last year. The report analyzes social media engagement on Instagram, TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), and Facebook from January 2023 through February 2024. Overall, the athletes tracked by SponsorUnited shared more branded posts on Instagram than any other social platform. The boom in audiences and the easing of name, image, and likeness rules to allow college athletes to accept sponsorships have made collegiate and professional athletes a hot commodity for brands looking to get their names in front of their fans. Sponsorship deals for women in the top five professional sports leagues grew 10.5% on average over the year, according to SponsorUnited. A couple of the athletes who have racked up the largest audience gains on social media have transitioned from collegiate to professional leagues this year, carrying more eyeballs into leagues that have historically lagged behind men’s leagues in public interest and sponsorship dollars. Superstar rookies Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark both clocked some of the largest social media following gains over the year ahead of making their debuts in the Women’s National Basketball Association. The star power of players like these has the attention of those at the topmost rungs of the organization. “I think fans are finally knowing where to find us,” WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in a news conference prior to the July All-Star Game tipoff. “And I think this rookie class has brought a lot of attention and is lifting all of our games and all of our players.” Reese and Clark are just a few of the young, talented athletes in women’s sports whose fan bases have been shifting from television to social media apps over the past year–and translating into high-paying sponsorship deals. 10. Deja Kelly Nicholas Faulkner // Getty Images Follower growth 2023-2024: 450,000 League: NCAA Basketball Age: 22 Deja Kelly played NCAA college basketball for the North Carolina Tar Heels for four seasons and transferred to Oregon this year. Her star power on the court has earned her sponsorships from Dunkin’ Donuts and Tommy Hilfiger, where she was the first college athlete to sign a deal with the clothing brand. In July, she was invited to the White House for a celebration of Black women in sports. 9. Hailey Van Lith Harry Langer // Getty Images Follower growth 2023-2024: 500,000 League: NCAA Basketball Age: 22 Hailey Van Lith now plays for the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs, but previously played guard for the Louisiana State University Tigers women’s NCAA basketball team for three seasons. She has more than a million followers on Instagram and over 400,000 on TikTok, NIL deals worth nearly $700,000, and she has collaborated with Apple in social media posts this year. 8. Michelle Wie West Tracy Wilcox // Getty Images Follower growth 2023-2024: 600,000 League: Ladies Professional Golf Association Age: 34 Now-retired professional golfer Michelle Wie West is no newcomer to the professional sports scene and the top-dollar deals that come with it. At age 10 she became the youngest person to earn a spot in the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links and was the youngest person to qualify for an LPGA event in 2003. Wie West blogs about food under the cleverly named handle @whatdowieeat. She also has a designer line of jewelry with e-commerce jewelry brand Wove, which fans have spotted on Taylor Swift. Wie West has notched sponsorships from Nike and others over the years and is now involved in investing and entrepreneurship. 7. Kelley O’Hara