Ever since the Supreme Court now-famously ruled that college athletes could be compensated for the usage of their name, image, and likeness (NIL), the floodgates have opened for marketable athletes to make some dough. Sometimes, students at more lesser-known schools get pretty modest but ultimately solid deals for a little money, while the big names at the big universities destined to go pro could make hundreds of thousands or even millions. But there are two athletes at a big-name school certainly not destined to become professional stars who have gotten star billing: Miami’s Cavinder twins, Haley and Hanna.
The twins, who recently graduated from the University of Miami, were not known for their on-court prowess.
Haley Cavinder averaged just over 12 points, five rebounds, and a little over two assists in her just-completed senior season with the Hurricanes. Certainly respectable, but hardly anything groundbreaking. Her sister, Hanna, averaged a little under four points per game in just 16 minutes of play. But that hasn’t stopped them from getting endorsements from the sports gambling app Betr, sports nutrition maker Bucked Up, and soft drink brand Dr. Pepper.
Why, you may ask? Many say it’s about their appearance, given that they’re a pair of svelte, tan blondes.
The twins post social media images and videos showing them working out and hanging out their swimsuits. On Instagram, they have 261,000 followers and 4.5 million followers on TikTok.
Victoria Jackson, a former professional runner, told The Free Press news site that she thinks that the Cavinder twins are being showered with cash due to their “sexiness and attractiveness,” which is “unfair” to other, more successful athletes.
“You would notice that somebody would get a big deal when she was middling, at best, and happened to be good-looking, and a woman who was making Olympic teams and winning national championships was having a hard time getting shoe deals,” Jackson told The Free Press.
The fact that young women like the Cavinders can be so successful despite not being star athletes is a female-specific phenomenon. When looking at the top NIL earners on the men’s side, it’s pretty much all guys across various sports who are the best of the best (like Bryce Young or Quinn Evers, two sensational quarterbacks).
To be fair to the twins, they acknowledge that they are in a position of privilege.
“Obviously, everyone brings something different to the table. I think that all women should be empowered in a male-dominant world, especially minorities,” Haley Cavinder told the news site.
“I mean, obviously, yes, this is a touchy subject, but I think that we are privileged, in a way,” Hanna Cavinder said. “Obviously, we don’t deal with the same things that other women deal with or other people deal with, and that’s just how our world is, and it’s awful.”
