Indiana women's basketball guard Malia Samuels has signed a NIL partnership with World's Finest Chocolate valued at $75,000 annually. The deal marks the Chicago-based fundraising chocolate company's first athlete endorsement at the college level.
Samuels, a sophomore who averaged 8.2 points and 3.1 assists across 28 games last season, will represent World's Finest across social content and select appearances. The company sells $300 million in chocolate bars annually, primarily through school fundraising channels. Terms were not disclosed, but two people familiar with the structure confirmed the $75,000 figure covers a one-year term with renewal language tied to on-court performance and social reach.
The partnership tests a narrow thesis: non-apparel brands seeking female athletes in revenue sports outside the Power Five football-basketball complex. World's Finest operates in 20,000 schools nationwide but has never invested meaningfully in athlete marketing. The shift reflects two market realities. First, women's basketball viewership climbed 21% year-over-year across ESPN platforms in the 2023-24 season, creating sponsor interest beyond the Paige Bueckers tier. Second, Indiana finished 22-11 last season and returns a backcourt led by Samuels and senior Chloe Moore-McNeil, positioning the program as a tourney-bubble headache with regional media traction in Indianapolis and Chicago.
Samuels brings 34,000 combined followers across Instagram and TikTok, modest by influencer standards but clean for a sophomore guard at a Big Ten program outside the national title conversation. Her content skews lifestyle and game-day preparation, not product-heavy. That matters for a brand like World's Finest, which has never had to explain why a point guard eats chocolate bars before tip-off. The creative risk is real: fundraising chocolate does not map cleanly to athletic performance the way protein powder or recovery drinks do. The upside is price. $75,000 buys World's Finest a full year of social inventory and event access at a fraction of what a football NIL collective would demand for a starting quarterback.
The deal also signals where NIL capital is flowing as collectives consolidate and donor fatigue sets in. Women's basketball, particularly at programs like Indiana that win enough to stay ranked but not enough to command New Balance contracts, has become a testing ground for brands seeking authentic reach without bidding against football booster boards. Samuels' agent, who also reps two other Big Ten women's players, confirmed the brand approached directly rather than routing through Indiana's NIL collective. That structure keeps the deal off the collective's books and suggests World's Finest is building a repeatable model, not making a one-time bet.
Indiana opens the season November 4 at home against Southern Indiana. Samuels will wear custom warmups featuring World's Finest branding during pre-game, pending Big Ten and NCAA clearance. The company plans a campus activation in Bloomington tied to the December 7 matchup against Louisville, which ESPN will carry. Two people familiar with World's Finest's broader marketing plans said the company is evaluating NIL partnerships with athletes at three additional Big Ten schools, with decisions expected before the new year.
The real follow-on question is whether brands outside the usual apparel-tech-beverage triad can build scalable NIL programs without tying deals to on-court performance metrics that turn contracts into stress tests. Samuels' social audience will grow if Indiana makes the tournament; it will flatline if the Hoosiers miss Selection Sunday for the third straight year. World's Finest is betting $75,000 that the process, not the outcome, is the product.
The takeaway
Non-apparel brands are testing women's basketball NIL deals at mid-tier programs where reach exceeds cost and expectations remain manageable.
Editorial & Disclosure Notice: This article was written with artificial intelligence from public sources and is published without individual human review. Artificial intelligence and other digital tools are also used for research, analysis, editing, formatting, and production. Errors, omissions, outdated information, or inaccuracies may occur. References to companies, brands, products, services, organizations, or individuals are for informational and editorial purposes and do not imply endorsement, sponsorship, affiliation, partnership, or approval unless expressly stated. All trademarks and other intellectual property remain the property of their respective owners. Opinions, analysis, estimates, and commentary are informational only and should not be construed as financial, investment, legal, tax, medical, procurement, or other professional advice. Information may be corrected, clarified, or updated after publication. Corrections or removal requests: jenny@pops4.com.
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