Building Your Brand
Camryn Edens
On June 6, 2025, the House v. NCAA antitrust settlement received final approval, ushering in a new chapter for college athletics.
For Boise State soccer athletes such as junior Tambree Bell and sophomore Ava de Leest, Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) is about more than getting paid for a post. It is about learning how to market themselves, build relationships and decide what they want their name to represent.
A few videos she posted in high school began to take off and what started as something fun quickly became something more. Bell liked creating content. She liked sharing pieces of her life. And eventually, she realized people were watching.
When she arrived at Boise State, that realization became harder to ignore.
Today, the forward from Pocatello, Idaho, has built an audience of over 18,500 followers on Instagram and 87,600 on TikTok. What began as a hobby has become a personal brand, and an opportunity.
Bell remembers the excitement of receiving her first brand deal. At the time, the opportunity was simple, she posted a video in exchange for free products. But to Bell, it represented something much bigger.
After putting time and effort into building her social media presence, someone had noticed. It was proof that the work was paying off.
As more opportunities came her way, Bell began hearing from businesses in the Treasure Valley. Those local partnerships became some of her favorites.
NIL has built so many connections for me. Not only worldwide, but also most importantly locally.Tambree Bell
For Bell, working with local businesses is about more than promoting a product. It gives her the chance to support businesses in the community that supports her.
“Getting NIL opportunities here in Boise has been so amazing because I get to support people that are amazing, but also I get support from them and their businesses,” she said. “That then builds lifelong relationships.”
De Leest has experienced that same connection. She has worked with local businesses and said those experiences have shown her just how invested the local community is in Boise State Athletics.
I really like the people that I work with. It really shows what is possible out there and that local communities really do want to support the college athletics that are here, especially Boise State.Ava de Leest
Without a professional sports team in Boise, de Leest said, Boise State Athletes have a unique relationship with the community.
“We don't really have pro sports in the city,” she said. “So it shows how much the community really does care about the college and the athletes, and how passionate they are about the sports as well.”
That connection has changed the way de Leest views NIL. She said one of the biggest misconceptions is that athletes participate only for the money.
One of her favorite partnerships was with RJ Soap Market, a local company whose story resonated with her. The business also operates the Story Foundation, which supports people with special needs.
More than the products or more than the money, I loved working with them because of their story.Ava de Leest
College athletes are balancing practices, games, travel, classes and studying. Adding content creation and brand partnerships can quickly become another job.
For de Leest, the solution is being selective. Especially during the season, a partnership has to be something she genuinely likes. That selectiveness allows NIL to fit into her life rather than take it over.
Social media provides another benefit for Bell, it allows her to escape from the repetitive rhythm of college athletics. Between academics and soccer, days can begin to feel routine. Creating content gives her something different to focus on.
Her videos often include vlogs and “day in the life” posts, giving followers a glimpse into what it is like to be a Boise State soccer player. Bell hopes those videos do more than entertain. She wants younger girls to see themselves in college soccer, and specifically, in the Blue and Orange.
I love Boise State soccer. It's my life. It's everything to me. Being able to grow Boise State soccer and be one of the faces with my teammates of Boise State soccer really just shows how much fun we have.Tambree Bell
For de Leest, authenticity is just as important. NIL gives athletes a platform to represent themselves, but it also gives them a platform to represent their school and their teams.
“College athletics is something that is hard to get into in the first place,” de Leest said. “I think it is really special to be able to promote our school and our team because it's something that we're really proud of and we're really excited to be a part of.”
Every post, partnership and video becomes another opportunity to show people who they are. In that sense, their personal brands and Boise State’s brand are connected.
“We're also showing them who Boise State soccer is,” de Leest said. “I think it helps our brand, but it also helps the reputation of our school and the reputation of our team.”
Learning how to navigate that world has become part of being a college athlete.
Both Bell and de Leest attended AthleteCon, a three-day NIL convention in Las Vegas designed to help college athletes develop their personal brands. Speakers from different backgrounds in sports and business taught athletes about the rapidly changing NIL landscape, while major companies such as Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn were part of the event.
The convention also gave Bell and de Leest an opportunity to meet athletes from across the country.
Bell said those relationships have continued long after the convention ended. She follows many of the athletes she met and said they continue to exchange ideas and inspire each other. For de Leest, one of the biggest lessons was that athletes do not need thousands of followers to begin building a brand. They simply need to begin.
“Even if you don't have a lot of followers right now, you just have to start where you're at and be consistent with posting and sharing your story online,” de Leest said.
Bell walked away with a similar lesson, although hers was more direct: Stop being afraid to post.
AthleteCon showed her how much opportunity exists for athletes who are willing to put themselves out there. The more confident she became, the more she saw the possibilities through the relationships she could build.
“You can build so many relationships by just being confident and being yourself,” Bell said.
The common lesson between the two? NIL is ultimately about putting themselves out there and discovering what can happen when they do.
“Social media can change lives,” Bell said.