Thanks to her mother’s advice, track-and-field athlete and Olympic gold medalist Masai Russell felt comfortable taking on NIL opportunities.
In 2021, college athletes were permitted to profit from their name, image, and likeness for the first time due to an NCAA rule change, the New York Times reports.
Russell, a University of Kentucky student-athlete at the time, was in disbelief. She recently expressed that it had been the status quo for athletes not to receive compensation.
“When I was able to see that NIL was an opportunity that I could take advantage of, I didn’t know that it was real at first,” she mentioned during an interview on “The It Girls” podcast. “I didn’t know this was something that was in the making for so long because everyone, it was always like an ongoing, ‘Oh, no. Athletes shouldn’t get paid. Athletes should get paid.’ It was always a back-and-forth battle. So when the law actually got passed, I really didn’t believe it.”
After further research, Russell was convinced she had the green light to take on opportunities in NIL. She is reportedly one of the first to do so, and she was able to leverage her social media following, which had been the highest at her college at the time, according to On3. In June 2021, she had 364,000 followers on TikTok; 150,000 followers on Instagram; and 5,000 followers on Twitter.
At the time of this writing, Russell now has 708,800 followers on TikTok; 426,000 followers on Instagram; and 16,300 followers on X (formerly Twitter).
“I go to the young woman who has the most social media of anyone in our department, and I would venture to say most of you don’t know that it’s Masai Russell,” athletics director Mitch Barnhart said in 2021, per On3. “Masai Russell has the largest social media following of anybody in our department by far. It’s not close. But she doesn’t wake up every day just rolling out and saying ‘Okay, who all is going to join me?’ She works at it… She works at it because she’s found a way in what she’s trying to do for a life beyond track and field to be able to put something together for her.”
Russell secured “20 or so” NIL deals with companies like Walgreens, Hulu, Eastbay, and WWE, per Oregon Live.
“I was able to connect with brands that I never thought that I’d be able to talk to,” she expressed on “The It Girls” podcast.
She credits her mother, Sharon Russell, a doctor who leads Maryland Oral Surgery Group, with helping her navigate her deals by reading her contracts.
“I just wanna shout out to my mom, too, because she was right there with me. She’s a doctor, but she was reading my contracts for me, doing everything,” the sprinter and hurdler recalled on the podcast. “You would think that she was a lawyer, and she was, she was doing her big one. And then the money just started flowing in.”
She also mentioned her mother was helpful in saving her from the fine print of contracts that could have affected her long-term compensation.
“They just love to throw in perpetuity, or perpetual, which means they can use your content forever,” she said on the podcast. “If you’re not getting paid forever, then they shouldn’t be able to use your content for forever. Just because you see people on posters or on buses and just being promoted, that doesn’t always mean that they’re getting paid for that. They don’t have no royalties. My mom was always big on, ‘Y’all not gonna use her name, image likeness forever unless you’re paying her.’ And she’s just always my biggest advocate.”
@itgirlspodcast @Masai Russell consistently relied on her mom to ensure she wasn’t exploited by promoters, making sure she received her fair share in any deal. 🧠 #trackandfield #athlete #family
Russell secured earnings in the six-figure range, per Oregon Live. Despite the high-figure earnings for a college student, she also wanted longevity. Oregon Live mentioned that she saved her earnings with the intention of investing in real estate.
“I don’t want to say that I was 21 making this amount of money, and now I’m 30, and I don’t have anything,” she mentioned at the time per the outlet. “I’m trying to play it out very smart and play it out the right way so that I’m pretty well-off in my later years.”
Russell’s discernment has continued to benefit her well beyond her college days, which concluded in 2023. According to her Instagram, she is now part of the Nike family after signing with the company in April 2024.
The sky appears to be the limit for Russell, especially in light of receiving the Gold medal at the 2024 Olympics in the 100-meter hurdles.
