Hannah Hidalgo is the Notre Dame track star who is being swept along in the wake of the change that the NIL era brings to college athletics. Even though the freshman phenom is one of the most familiar names in women’s college basketball and one of the most profitable in NIL, she claims that the culture of a locker room is based on team unity, not comparisons.
In a recent podcast on The Shop, Hidalgo revealed how she and her teammates deal with internal team dynamics when they are making different amounts of income off the court.
“We don’t talk about money in the locker room. We don’t talk about money, we don’t talk about NIL. We don’t talk about how much we make,” Hannah Hidalgo said. (46:00)
How Hannah Hidalgo’s Notre Dame Prioritizes Unity in the NIL Landscape
Hannah Hidalgo also disclosed that there is a group-based opportunity model that the team of Notre Dame refers to as the fund. Under this system, players may be making equal trips to an event, but that does not mean that compensation is equal. Nevertheless, the team does not allow their differences to divide their relationship.
“We have a thing called the fund, where we all go at the same event, where one girl might be getting more than another, but we never talk about money. We keep the money and stuff aside,” Hidalgo said. (46:05)
“We just do not want division, cause it’s such a long season. So, it’s like how do we keep everybody tight knit and as a family,” she added.
Unlike pro locker rooms, where there is public compensation and an understood pecking order, college life has been more personal and delicate. Hidalgo pointed out that income silence is not secrecy, but it is a strategy. It is about safeguarding the chemistry required to get through a competitive season.
Outside of the court, Hannah Hidalgo has become an NIL sensation with a large number of associations with big brands and consistent participation in national campaigns. However, her team’s first attitude has not gone away.
As further growth and NIL deals are on the way, Hannah Hidalgo has a different approach that offers an insight into how the top-level college teams can adjust. The focus can become more intense, but behind the scenes, like with teams such as Notre Dame, there is still a lot of effort to ensure unity in an ever-changing environment.
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