LA JOLLA, Calif. – UC San Diego scholar-athletes are finding significant success in the Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) space through the department's partnership with Athlete's Thread, as the Tritons currently rank No. 29 nationally among 415 colleges and universities on the platform in total merchandise sales.
During the 2025-26 academic year, nearly 200 UC San Diego scholar-athletes generated sales through their Athlete's Thread storefronts, collectively selling more than 300 pieces of personalized apparel and merchandise. Those sales generated more than $15,000 in Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) revenue directly for Triton scholar-athletes.
Athlete's Thread provides scholar-athletes the opportunity to launch custom branded merchandise stores, allowing fans, alumni, friends, family, and supporters to directly support their favorite Tritons while helping student-athletes benefit from their NIL opportunities.
UC San Diego's strong performance on the platform places the Tritons among the top-performing athletic departments nationally and reflects the growing engagement surrounding the university's rapidly rising Division I athletics program.
The program has featured merchandise collections from scholar-athletes across multiple sports, helping scholar-athletes build their personal brands while gaining valuable experience in marketing, entrepreneurship, and fan engagement.
Athlete's Thread creates a turnkey solution for NIL apparel, allowing access to all scholar-athletes. "It is super easy to use and helped me break the ice in getting started with NIL deals," said
Samantha Womack, UC San Diego softball outfielder. "Before I was too scared to mess up and start with NIL. However, Athlete's Thread was super easy to use and really helpful through the whole process. They are also really good at working with you to create posts, among other things, to advertise your gear."
For many scholar-athletes, the stores have become an opportunity to deepen connections with fans and represent UC San Diego in a unique way.
"I would like to say thank you to the fans who have supported athletes through this program. It really means the world to every athlete. None of us would be here without the support of the people around us, so being able to have people wear our name and cheer us on is so inspiring and heartening," Womack added.
The continued growth of the Athlete's Thread program reflects UC San Diego Athletics' commitment to providing innovative NIL opportunities and supporting scholar-athletes both on and off the field of competition.
Fans can explore and shop official Triton scholar-athlete merchandise by visiting
https://athletesthread.com/university-of-california-san-diego.
About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program has begun a new era as a member of The Big West in NCAA Division I. The 24-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 84 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have garnered prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 90 percent, the highest rate among public institutions in NCAA Division I or II. For more information on the Tritons, visit UCSDtritons.com or follow UC San Diego Athletics on social media @UCSDtritons.
