‘Make sure you keep your sport your priority’: Haley Cavinder’s advice to student-athletes starting business deals

Following the NCAA’s new NIL policy, which allows student-athletes to be pay for their image and name, college athletes are announcing new deals left and right. Fresno State Basketball players Hanna and Haley Cavinder join Yahoo Finance’s Kristin Myers and Alexis Christoforous to discuss their introduction to brand deals, the implications of the NCAA’s newest policy for student-athletes, and what might be the potential drawbacks as well.

Video transcript

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KRISTIN MYERS: Welcome back. Well, as Olympic athletes are gearing up for the Tokyo games, college athletes are busy striking deals to make money from their name, image, and likeness, what's known as their NIL. And it's only been in effect for a couple of weeks since a new NCAA policy took place allowing student athletes to cash in for the first time.

We want you to take a look at one of the announcements. So this is a giant electronic billboard in New York's Times Square. It doesn't get much bigger than that. Announcing a deal struck between twin sisters who play on the Fresno State basketball team. The players' names are Hanna and Haley Cavinder. And they join us now.

Ladies, thanks so much for being with us. And Hanna, I'm going to start with you. I understand that you and your sister are pretty choosy when it comes to the deals that you strike. How are you deciding which businesses to partner with as you monetize your name, image, and likeness?

HANNA CAVINDER: Right. I think it just comes with who you are and what your brand stands for, also having people in our corner to kind of guide us because it's very new to us. But yeah, just trying to see what kind of brands you want to work with. Obviously, we love Boost Mobile and what they represent. So we were super-excited for that.

KRISTIN MYERS: Haley, so I'm going to come to you next. Obviously, you both really cashed in on this really large social media following that you both have, which really exploded during the pandemic. I'm curious to know what your advice is for fellow college athletes in terms of making money, especially if they don't have similarly large social media following.

HALEY CAVINDER: I would just say to make sure you keep your sport your priority. I think that's helped Hanna and I build our brand through this whole process, to not lose sight of what got you there. And all that stuff will come. So I would just say to make sure you still focus on your sport because the brand will come with it if you do well in your sport.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOUROS: I'm curious, Hanna, does Fresno State have to sign off or bless the deals that you and your sister are making when it comes to sponsorships and endorsements?

HANNA CAVINDER: They necessarily don't have to sign off. But we do use an app called Arms that we can submit our contracts to because right now the school does have a policy, and that's what the policy falls under. So they don't necessarily have to sign off, but they just like to know what's going on. We're obviously students at Fresno State, so just making sure that we're working with the correct brands.

KRISTIN MYERS: So speaking about the brands that you work with, but also the both of you as a brand, do you see your brand really remaining as a set, as twins, a package deal? Or do you think that you guys might strike off on your own in the future and develop different interests?

HALEY CAVINDER: I think Hanna and I love the brand of us being twins. I think that is a unique thing in this business. I think that's why everyone likes us, just because I think Twins are unique on social media and just playing college basketball together. So I think in the future, we'll definitely want to be partners in everything we do.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOUROS: Well, it's certainly clicking with social media fans. You guys have millions of TikTok followers, Instagram followers. Tell us what it's been like since the NCAA's announcement. I mean, have you been approached by a number of different companies? And who are you choosing to work with at this point? Who can you share with us?

HANNA CAVINDER: Right. So it's been pretty chaotic since July 1 but in a good way. And I think just working with brands and trying to negotiate with them, like I said before, just having people in your corner. Our attorney Darren has helped us a lot with contracts. And then my sister has been managing with us as well, just making sure that we're student athletes first and focusing on basketball and school. So the extra stuff, like contracts and negotiating, will be through them.

KRISTIN MYERS: So to that point about how you both are student athletes first, I think when we think of student athletes, we think about what happens afterwards. And typically, especially for athletes that play basketball, I think the next step is always going professional and for the both of you to be in the WNBA. Do you share similar plans and goals to join the WNBA? Or do you think that this path that you're on of striking a lot of these lucrative deals is going to continue even after you graduate?

HALEY CAVINDER: I think growing up, Hanna and I always wanted to play in the WNBA together. I think that's something that would be insanely cool. But we're just going to see where everything takes us. We would never turn an opportunity like that down, but just trying to see what's the best route to take us when that time does come.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOUROS: So let me ask a sensitive question. I know you're not supposed to ask this, right? But how old are you ladies?

HANNA CAVINDER: 20.

HALEY CAVINDER: 20.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOUROS: OK. So at the ripe old age of 20, you're coming into a lot of money fast. What are you doing in terms of investing that money or financial planning? I know you're real young and you probably have a lot of folks surrounding you who have a little experience there. But give us a feel, since we are Yahoo Finance, as to what it is you are doing or hope to do with the money that you're making.

HANNA CAVINDER: Right. So my parents have helped us a lot with that kind of aspect. And we use a financial advisor. We are just investing our money and trying to set ourselves up both for future and having success in that way. So just trying to lean on them and get advice from them as well as our financial advisor has helped us a lot. So that's what we're focusing on, just setting ourselves up for success.

KRISTIN MYERS: Curious to know, just because as we talk about NILs, which, as a reminder, is that name, image, and likeness that you both are now able to profit from, I think a lot about NFTs, those non-fungible tokens that a lot of athletes have really been getting interested in. So many athletes have been turning to cryptocurrency as an investment and as a way of making money. Do either one of you plan to get involved in the NFT or cryptocurrency space in some way going forward?

HALEY CAVINDER: Oh, right. That's crazy you asked that, just because we did have a Zoom call on that earlier this week. So yeah, we definitely are learning more about it, just because that is something that we don't know much of. So we're just trying to soak it all in and get all the information before we take any more steps with that.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOUROS: All right. I have a feeling there's going to be an announcement soon. You guys have to let us know if and when it happens. But look, we're just days away from the Olympics. I'm sure you are both thinking about the future. Age is also an important factor in sports, right? You sort of need to strike while the iron is hot.

So what are some of the plans? Hanna, I'll ask you. What are some plans for the future in terms of your sport? Are you looking at the WNBA? Are you considering you know, perhaps trying to make it to the Olympics?

HANNA CAVINDER: Right. Obviously, the WNBA would be an amazing opportunity. And also playing overseas would be really, really cool. But right now, we're just focusing on being student athletes and trying to set ourselves up in that way and just taking everything day by day, being present right now. But obviously, that would be an amazing opportunity.

KRISTIN MYERS: So when I think about the WNBA, sadly, I think a lot about pay gaps. Women that play in the WNBA do not make anything close to what men make in the NBA. I'm sure you're able to make up some of that gap in some of these lucrative deals. But I'm curious to know if there's any concerns that either one of you have about inequities as you're striking some of these deals. Perhaps you know you might not make as much money as some of your male college athlete counterparts. Are there concerns, perhaps, do you think further down the road about racial inequities in terms of the money that is being made by some of these athletes like yourself in some of these deals?

HALEY CAVINDER: Yeah. I think that's why we were so excited about NIL passing. I think that it was crazy to see on July 1, a lot of female athletes were leading the way. And it was really cool to be a part of that. So yeah, like you said. It's so hard to go pro, especially for a woman in sports. There's less opportunity, just like there is not as much as men.

So yeah, I think that's such a cool way. I think NIL passing does help women in sports because we are women. And we are not at a power five school or a quarterback at a football school. So I just think that is so cool to show our younger generation that female athletes can lead the way and profit off a name, image likeness, just like men.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOUROS: What's one thing we don't know about you two twin sisters, Hanna, that you know people see your story, they think it's awesome, they think it all looks great on social media? But tell us something that maybe we don't know about the two of you.

HALEY CAVINDER: We also have three other sisters that we grew up with. So it was a huge girl family, a lot of fighting. But they turned into our best friends and people we can lean on and trust. So I'm grateful for them.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOUROS: All right. Hanna and Haley, do you have another one there? Go for it, Kristin.

KRISTIN MYERS: No, I'm still stunned that there's five girls in the family.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOUROS: That's crazy. They're athletes as well?

HANNA CAVINDER: No, they are not. They grew up playing sports, but they didn't want to pursue it in college. So they're not athletes.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOUROS: OK. And also, just I want to note, you guys are taller than your average woman but in terms of basketball not all that tall. You're 5' 6", right, each of you? Are you point guards? Or what are your positions?

HALEY CAVINDER: Yeah, we're both guards. So I play more to the point guard role. But we both are guards. So we can't be post at 5' 5", 5' 6".

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOUROS: No, you cannot, but you're doing something right. So we're going to continue to watch. And do come back, especially if you come up with an NFT. Hanna and Haley Cavinder of Fresno State basketball team, thanks so much for being with us.

HALEY CAVINDER: Thank you for having us.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOUROS: And stay with us.