The Cavinder Twins are often treated as a package deal, but that will change next year when Haley Cavinder returns to play her final year of eligibility at TCU without her sister Hanna on the court beside her.
When the twins initially announced they were foregoing their final year of eligibility, that decision was primarily driven by Hanna.
“I think going into deciding whether we were going to take our fifth year or not, we kind of were leaning on each other,” said Hanna. “We've always done everything together, so it kind of just made sense. I was just kind of ready to tie the shoes up, and I had different ambitions outside of basketball, but that was kind of my decision to step away.”
It didn’t take long for Haley, however, to realize she felt like she’d made a mistake.
“I think ending it with Hanna and announcing that we were done and not going to take our fifth year, I felt—honestly, to be very transparent—a lot of pressure,” Haley said.
Haley knew they’d built a huge brand together, so she wasn’t sure what it would look like if she wanted to return without Hanna. As time went on, she says she felt like there was a basketball-shaped void in her heart, and she began texting her team at Everett Sports Management that she wanted to play again.
“There was nothing filling the love for the game, and I just truly was like, I know I'm going to regret it down the road if I don't go back,” Haley said.
You might be wondering: has either twin ever played without the other?
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“I remember one time because I was really mad,” Hanna laughed. “We played on the Adidas circuit for AAU ball, and they had an All-Star team.
“Haley got selected, and I didn't. So that was the one time. Other than that we've always played together.”
Although they won’t be playing basketball together, Hanna says they’ll still be building their brand together.
“I think honestly it provides a different unique storyline. You can have somebody in the NIL space, and an athlete that's not in the NIL space, but we obviously are always going to work together. It's always going to be a brand of us together just because that's how we started off and, honestly, that's just what worked for us. Our niche is ‘the twins.’”
The Role of NIL in Haley’s Transfer Decision
I interviewed the Cavinder twins prior to Haley announcing her transfer decision, but I did ask her what the deciding factors would be when she made her choice.
“I'm just looking at a place where we can go and I can be impactful,” Haley said. “I want to win. Obviously with Miami, we got deep into the tournament and it was the best feeling ever. I think that I want to go somewhere and win for my fifth year, be impactful and just lead my team.”
Asked if NIL played a role, she said it did not.
“I think it is funny because I have seen comments, and other news channels, just talking about that . . . saying [I’m] going back for NIL . . . but I have not seen one change honestly. Post-NIL has been really successful for Hanna and I. More than . . . NIL. So I think even from Fresno State, for us, it's never been about what school we've been to. It's been about our brand, and that's the Cavinder Twins.”
How NIL Changed Their Career Path
They might have started as “those basketball twins on TikTok,” but the Haley and Hanna Cavinder are both a marketing machine and accomplished entrepreneurs today.
“I'm just so grateful that I made the decision,” said Haley, “and I think it's good because it's teaching Hanna and me both that we can have passions that are not always identical together and still be able to have our brand together.”
Asked if NIL changed her career path, the twins agreed they always had entrepreneurship in their blood, but NIL has allowed them to hit fast forward on their plans.
“I think growing up, you always have like big dreams for yourself,” said Haley. “I think obviously I wanted to do something with marketing and sales.”
She says having a father who was a businessowner always inspired them both to be entrepreneurial.
“We were going to have a hotel called Twins Inn,” Haley laughed.
“I think that naturally I'm an entrepreneur,” said Haley. “I definitely fell in love with the business side of things, being able to connect and build relationships and being able to market ourselves and understand when we do work with certain brands, the creativity is something that I truly love to do.”
“I didn't know what I wanted to do after college, maybe sales,” Haley said. “Whenever somebody asks me that's a little bit older, I'm just like, ‘Oh yeah, I do marketing.’ Just because it is.”
Becoming Entrepreneurs through NIL
The Cavinder twins are some of the first student athletes to receive equity in some of their brand partners. Asked if that was something they actively sought out, the twins give all the credit to their team at Everett Sports Management. She says when ESM first spoke to them about equity, they didn’t understand.
“But then we realized . . . the positioning that we can have, and honestly, truly being able to have creative [direction], being head of partnerships, being able to be really involved in businesses.
“We love like being able to talk to girls within Seoul Juice and have direct conversations with them and just be truly a part of the brand and help build it. So I love that aspect of it.”
The Cavinder twins have equity in both Seoul Juice and Betr Media/Betr Holdings. Their first activation with Seoul Juice was the creation of Seoul Sisters NIL, where they invited five up and coming female athletes to be Seoul partners and receive NIL deals. They’ll also be working on their own flavors for the brand and will do marketing consulting on future partnerships.
Their Betr Media deal involved selling their podcast, Twin Talk, to the company in exchange for their ownership. They’re now an integral part of the team at Betr Media, working on other podcasts in the portfolio and live activations at events they’ve attended such as the Preakness, MLB World Series, NBA Finals, multiple NFL games, and the ESPY
As native Arizonans, the twins were also MLB ambassadors at Game 3 of the World Series. Other brand partnerships have included Amazon
The twins have also been ringside at WWE events such as Summer Slam, Raw, Smack Down and NXT events as part of the inaugural class of WWE’s NIL initiative, Next In Line.
Why the Cavinder Twins Have Been so Successful with NIL
Jeff Hoffman, one of the agents at ESM who has represented the Cavinder twins since they were back at Fresno State, says their initial appeal to brands was their audience, which was almost split right down the middle between male and female followers. Now, however,
“The current construct, which we have guided them into, allows Haley and Hanna to command equity, royalty, board membership and product development to leverage the Cavinder Twins brand. It's really going from being a vehicle which brands can ride to sales or awareness to their becoming the actual destination as a brand themselves.”
He notes the way the twins have integrated as part of the brands they work with, such as their Twin Talk podcast becoming part of Betr, their Cavinder Twins drink with BuckedUp, and Seoul Juice NIL and product.
Hoffman says they have even grander plans for Haley and Hanna.
“Not to be too bold, however, we are looking to take The Cavinder Twins brand to that Kardashian level and its moving quickly.”
“To delve into the twins brand appeal you have to examine the audience further,” said Hoffman. “While they are active on a myriad of platforms which present differing opportunities for content and creative, brands are seeking not only awareness but consideration and trial.
“The twins are unique in that their audience is actually the best of a few worlds. They provide the avid sport enthusiast audience similar to that of a Livvy Dunne and a highly converting audience similar to that of a super influencer like Alix Earle. Brands need both, awareness and conversion. The Cavinder twins bring that in spades.”
Although they’re taking different paths now as individuals, Hanna says she thinks they’ll still stick together geographically for another year.
“I definitely will go probably live with her for one more year just to kind of figure out what we're gonna do after that, but then we'll definitely part ways. We know it's time.
“We have a lot of exciting things coming out and special ideas, so I'm not gonna speak too much on it, but definitely after this year, one more year and then the twinship will be a little bit separate.”
What’s Next for the Cavinder Twins
The Cavinder twins have accomplished an impressive amount since the NIL rules changed in July 2021, but they say they’re not done yet. Asked what they’d still like to do, they each identified one goal going forward.
“I want to have our own app,” Hanna said.
Haley immediately jumped in and said she was going to say the same thing before coming up with another.
“I think that one thing that would be really, really cool that we couldn't do last year was being Sports Illustrated swimsuit models. That was something we couldn't do last year because we were in basketball season, so that's a goal.”
Alexi Hecht, the director of communications at ESM who leads business strategy and partnerships for the Cavinder Twins, says she has no doubt the twins brand will continue to grow as they enter this next chapter.
“As this next season of life unfolds for Haley and Hanna, I see this creating new opportunities along with the ability to explore their unique personalities even further. Yes, they will operate under The Cavinder Twins brand, but I believe brands and partners could be introduced to the duo in more ways. Whether that be from Hanna's continued exploration of her creativity and entrepreneurship or Haley and her passion to compete.”
For more of my interview with the Cavinder twins, you can watch the full interview and read more excerpts on Business of College Sports.
