Michigan's Ammenhauser Shares NIL Advice for Future Female Student-Athletes
Riley Ammenhauser, a junior on Michigan's track and field team, has certainly made a name for herself across the NIL landscape. Described as a "pleasure to work with" by Outshine's Erin Convey, who works with Riley to land her NIL deals, it's not surprising to see all the incredible - and national - brands Ammenhauser collaborates with.
During her time at Michigan, she jumped a career-best and school-record 13.06m to win the triple jump at the Jim Green Invitational. On top of her impressive career on the track, Ammenhauser's massive social media following is also a testament to the hard work she puts in.
With an Instagram following of over 48,000 and a TikTok page with more than 197,000 followers, she's continuing to build her community with national brands continuing to take notice.
Ammenhauser's current NIL portfolio includes the likes of Peloton, Tinder, Lululemon, Gatorade, Discover Credit Card, and LG, among others. A brand roster that any professional superstar athlete would be proud of.
"I signed Riley in July 2023 and manage her exclusively," Convey shared. "She is a pleasure to work with as she hits deadlines, works quickly, and that athlete mindset translates into her work ethic. I feel that the deals I have been able to secure for her perfectly align with her brand and the brands are seeing the value they get from working with Riley."
Ammenhauser has also leveraged on-campus opportunities and networking events at Michigan to start building her brand connections, ultimately leading to a meeting with the Peloton team.
"The deal is about a lot of different concepts of deliverables," Ammenhauser said. "I make my own videos and they make some edits for me. We did a photoshoot and I potentially have a trip to the Peloton HQ. I feel like I have a relationship with Peloton and I love working with them. Meeting the Peloton executives and the team at the Michigan Business conferences and Fox Big Noon Kickoff is something that was really unique about this deal."
When exploring NIL opportunities, authenticity is key for Ammenhauser and Convey as they identify brands that align with the Wolverine's personality, values and what products she uses on a daily basis.
"The biggest priority would have to be that it aligns with what I stand for, things I use, things I want to accomplish," Ammenhauser added. "Along with the brand reputation, I want to make sure that everything I associate my name with won't disappoint. I take a lot of things into consideration when agreeing to a deal, like dependability and reliability, if it is actually a good product/business, and if I would incorporate it into my daily life. Peloton, Lululemon, Discover, LG, Ann Arbor Orthodontics, and Gatorade are all things that I use in my day-to-day life. I also enjoy creating relationships with brands to hopefully create more opportunities beyond NIL."
Unlike some athletes in the NIL space, these deals are not about the transaction, but impacting her daily life. Working with Peloton in particular, helps her train, feeling her best on and off the track.
"Having my name associated with Peloton is an accomplishment in itself. Peloton is definitely one of my favorite brands to work with," Ammenhauser shared. "Creating personal relationships with the marketing department, doing photo and video shoots (I love the camera). They treat me very well as a person and not only as an athlete. Having deals like Peloton inspires me every day to be the best version of myself and work really hard on and off the track."
Studying marketing and sports management at a top university like Michigan, combined with collaborating with national brands has provided Ammenhauser a hands-on educational experience that few experience.
Ammenhauser has built her social media offering for brands that include a variety of content pieces - including a day in the life vlog, posting videos of her using products or just dancing and having fun - showing the authentic side of what it's like to be a student-athlete.
However with one more year left at Michigan, Ammenhauser still has goals for her NIL experience and is working towards continuing to build her portfolio and content offering.
"My absolute dream is to be part of a commercial or magazine," she added. "I love photoshoots and video shoots because I think they are really fun and enjoy the expression and storytelling concepts of them. I went to Arizona for the Fiesta Bowl in 2023 with Taco Bell and it's awesome to create memories through deals, which is such an amazing thing about NIL. Beyond the landscape of NIL, it would be really cool to do some modeling jobs."
Ammenhauser admits that getting attention as a track and field athlete, at times, can be tough. She believes her social media platforms are the reason she's landed her impressive NIL deals.
"My platform is the reason I have NIL," she said. "Track and Field doesn't get much light within the media unless you are world pronounced, even then there isn't much publicity within. I think it is really unique to have a platform on social media because that's where NIL thrives. In order to attract NIL deals, I create consistent content that I enjoy making, whether it's a day in my life, a get-ready with me, or things surrounding the University of Michigan, which usually get a lot of attention. For landing these deals as well, I wouldn't be so successful without my management company, Outshine Talent, building this resume within NIL. They have been such a great help. Shoutout to my manager Erin Convey."
Inspiring many young female athletes, Riley wants them to know her advice on how to find success.
"One piece of advice I would give to a younger female athlete, no matter the sport, is if you enjoy social media and NIL, post consistently about the things you like," she said. "Be an entrepreneur for yourself, reach out to small businesses, brands, and local businesses to really get a feel about the NIL landscape and score some deals. NIL is a learning process and the more you do it, the better you get at it, the more you understand. But, you have to start somewhere. "
After scoring these impressive deals and continuing to work hard in the classroom and on and off the track, Riley was nominated by the NIL Summit for the Athlete Creator of the Year Award, joining an impressive nominee roster that includes Ally Batenhorst, Anna Camden, Josh Moore, Cash Peterman, and others. Whether she takes home hardware during the June event in Atlanta or not, Ammenhauser is one of the most prolific and inspiring names in NIL today and with another year to come at Michigan, will only continue to grow her impact nationwide.
JON CONAHAN