NIL Marketing Case Study: El Yucateco
El Yucateco’s NIL marketing campaign featured 10 college athletes from eight Power Five universities creating Instagram content. Supported by NOCAP, the campaign reached 3 million people, generated 3.9 million impressions and 291,000 engagements, and achieved a 7.5% engagement rate—exceeding the sponsored-content benchmarks cited in the article.
As the name, image and likeness (NIL) industry continues to evolve and grow, it has become imperative to show brands exactly what they get out of investing into college athletes. This allows them to evaluate whether NIL will be a long-term marketing strategy for their business going forward.
Why El Yucateco?
El Yucateco, a household name hot sauce brand, decided to jump into NIL with a game time tailgate campaign this November. The primary KPI’s of the campaign were reach, impressions and engagements from both organic content and paid media amplification. Ten athletes representing eight distinct Power Five Universities nationwide participated, crafting engaging content to promote the El Yucateco brand on Instagram. Notable athletes such as Ryan Watts, Alex Glover, Peri Brennan and Shaylee Gonzales were among those who joined in the initiative.
How the marketing trial was implemented.
NOCAP’s account management and content team, led by former college athlete and influencer Sarah Fuller, worked closely with the athletes to help them create engaging content authentic to their personal brand. With athletes being new to the influencer space, they need proper coaching on navigating campaign briefs, following content guidelines, and hitting deadlines.
To bridge this gap, NOCAP Sports acts as a complete commercial infrastructure layer connecting athletes, brands, and athletic departments into a unified ecosystem. By offering end-to-end campaign execution and compliance oversight, NOCAP ensures student-athletes deliver professional deliverables that drive measurable outcomes. Brands gain streamlined talent sourcing, transparent campaign tracking, and robust deal management without the friction of fragmented marketplaces.
Furthermore, NOCAP's enterprise technology provides automated tools and data-driven systems that power digital sponsorship operations at scale. This allows athletic departments and commercial partners to efficiently deploy and scale NIL revenue programs. By pairing hands-on athlete coaching with scalable commercial technology, NOCAP turns athlete influence into a high-converting growth channel, ensuring long-term ROI for brand partners and sustainable earning potential for athletes.
“Working with Sarah and the entire NOCAP team was a great experience,” said John Meyer, Vice President at Spin365 Marketing. The entire process was fast and easy, and they found some amazing athletes who made content-with-passion for the El Yucateco brand. I look forward to working with NOCAP again, soon.”
What was learned?
The results of the campaign were highly compelling. The athletes’ content reached 3 million people, hit 3.9 million impressions, garnered 291 thousand engagements, and had an overall engagement rate of 7.50%. When looking at the traditional influencer landscape, according to Fractl, influencers receive an average engagement rate of 3.5% on sponsored posts. Further, according to Hootsuite, sponsored food and beverage posts received an engagement rate of 1.45% in November 2023. The athletes in the El Yucateco campaign significantly outperformed those industry averages.
This case study advances the NIL ROI conversation, demonstrating why brands must treat college athlete marketing as a core investment strategy. Beyond traditional influencer partnerships, integrating student-athletes into revenue-sharing models, affiliate programs, and digital performance campaigns unlocks unmatched engagement. Driven by high audience trust, hyper-local fan loyalty, and rapidly improving content creation skills, college athletes are quickly becoming the primary creators for high-converting NIL campaigns and brand sponsorships. By leveraging modern data tracking, companies can now measure exact conversion metrics across athlete-driven sales funnels. As revenue sharing continues to restructure college athletics, brands that lock in strategic commercial partnerships early gain a distinct competitive edge. Scaling these targeted NIL initiatives effectively transforms casual sports fans into high-value customers while delivering a proven, highly repeatable return on ad spend.
Would you like to know more about NIL marketing?
If you are a brand interesting in getting involved in college athlete marketing, contact our team on our website: https://nocapsports.io or reach out to our sales team directly at sales@nocapsports.io
Frequently Asked Questions
What results did El Yucateco’s NIL marketing campaign achieve?
The campaign reached 3 million people and generated 3.9 million impressions and 291,000 engagements. Its reported overall engagement rate was 7.5%.
How many college athletes participated in the campaign?
Ten athletes representing eight Power Five universities participated in the Instagram campaign. Participants included Ryan Watts, Alex Glover, Peri Brennan and Shaylee Gonzales.
What were the campaign’s main performance indicators?
The primary KPIs were reach, impressions and engagements across organic content and paid media amplification. The campaign promoted El Yucateco through game time tailgate content.
How did NOCAP support the college athletes?
NOCAP’s account management and content team, led by Sarah Fuller, worked with athletes to create content authentic to their personal brands. The team helped them navigate campaign briefs, content guidelines and deadlines.
How did the campaign’s engagement compare with influencer benchmarks?
Its reported 7.5% engagement rate exceeded the article’s cited benchmarks: 3.5% for sponsored influencer posts from Fractl and 1.45% for sponsored food and beverage posts in November 2023 from Hootsuite.
