Key stat: 44% of US college sports fans say sponsorship influences their purchase decisions, including 14% who actively prioritize sponsored brands, according to a February study from Big Chalk.

Beyond the chart:

• There's a recall edge that helps explain why. Top sponsors at the College Football Playoff National Championship outperformed nearly every Super Bowl LX advertiser in unaided brand recall, with 55% of viewers able to name at least one sponsor, per Big Chalk Analytics.
• Meanwhile, women's sports may be the sharpest sponsorship environment in the entire category. Ads during women's sports drive 40% higher consumer engagement than the standard primetime ad, per EDO.

Use this chart: Drop this in your sports marketing review to show what college sponsorships actually deliver at the cash register. Use it to benchmark expected influence when scoping NIL deals or stadium partnerships, or show this to executives weighing whether college sports sponsorship deserves a bigger slice of the brand budget.

Related EMARKETER reports:

• Second-Screen Engagement During Live Sports (EMARKETER subscription required)
• US Ad Spending 2026 (EMARKETER subscription required)

Methodology: Data is from the March 2026 Big Chalk report titled "Perceptions of College Sports: Brands that Won in 2025; Opportunities in 2026." 2,575 US adults ages 18+ were surveyed online during February 12-16, 2026. Of the total sample, 1,457 met Big Chalk’s definition of college sports fan: watched or attempted to watch at least one college sporting event in 2025, and did so intentionally rather than because someone else was watching it.

We prepared this article with the assistance of generative AI tools and stand behind its accuracy, quality, and originality.