Rice women’s basketball player Malia Fisher ‘25 has cemented herself as one of the school’s top athletes in the Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) space by earning partnerships with Powerade, Epsilon and other national brands. On Sept. 17, Fisher displayed her knowledge and experience in NIL as a panelist for the Women in Sports and Events (WISE) Houston Financial Fitness: Understanding NIL Signature Event.
“Since NIL is specific to collegiate athletics, and with WISE Houston’s connection to Rice University, it was a no-brainer to have Financial Fitness be specific to the experience at Rice,” said Kerri Barber, the Department Administrator for Rice's Department of Sport Management as well as a board member for WISE Houston.
WISE Houston is a chapter of the national Women In Sports and Events (WISE) organization, meant to empower women in the business of sports by providing resources and a community for women across the country. This specific event was open to all WISE Houston members and held inside the West Club at NRG Stadium. Fisher was chosen as the sole student representative for the panel.
“It meant a lot [to be on this panel] because these are women who are established in their careers in the industry,” Fisher said. “As someone who will also work in the sport industry, having the opportunity to network with them and give my experience and feel like that these women are learning from me was pretty cool.”
On the panel, Fisher spoke about how she obtains and executes NIL deals and how her overall collegiate career has been affected by NIL. She said that while discussing her deals there were some gasps from the audience.
“I'm talking to agents as a 20-year-old and I'm having to market myself right now,” Fisher said. “I'm building a brand, which is not something that previous generations did until they were in their 30s. Now you have kids in high school starting to understand the concept of marketing and branding.”
Fisher said that after the panel she even had some people from the audience come up to her and ask questions.
“To understand the full scope of NIL, it was important to have the perspective from a female student-athlete,” Barber said. “[Fisher] has been one of the top Rice student-athletes active in the NIL space and with her being in the off-season, the timing worked out to have both her and women’s basketball head coach Lindsay Edmonds as panelists, which I was pumped about.”
Fisher’s basketball teammate and friend, Kennedy Clifton '26, was in the audience during the panel. Not only did she say that she learned from Fisher’s remarks, she also said that Fisher shined in the spotlight.
“She truly stood out as a representative for all student-athletes navigating NIL,” Clifton said. “[Fisher] demonstrated how to effectively leverage the resources available to us as athletes to build a personal brand and generate profit. Her story inspired me to explore more NIL opportunities for myself in the future.”
It wasn’t only athletes who felt like they gained something from Fisher’s presence on the panel though. Barber said that she received several compliments from event attendees about just how much they learned and their hope for a “part two” of this event.
“She captivated everyone with her insightful perspective on the mindset of an athlete navigating the evolving NIL landscape,” Clifton said. “Her experience was particularly powerful, given that Rice isn’t the typical target school for NIL opportunities. [Fisher] spoke with confidence, kept the audience engaged through personal anecdotes, and added a touch of humor with her witty remarks.”
Kathleen Ortiz, a junior from Kingwood, Texas, is studying Social Policy Analysis and Sport Management with a concentration in Sport Law.