Texas Tech crowd-sourcing NIL collective unveiled

As the Name, Image and Likeness era of college sports continues to evolve, there are more and more student-athletes earning income from advertisements and endorsements. While many athletes are signing NIL deals with companies and brands individually, there may soon be NIL benefits coming for all student-athletes that attend certain schools.

While schools such as Michigan State University and Grambling State University have both announced NIL deals for their student-athletes, Texas Tech University is now stepping into the arena – announcing Tuesday the formation of The Matador Club, which is a new nonprofit NIL collective for Texas Tech athletics.

“The Matador Club is the nonprofit NIL collective for Texas Tech Athletics – creating an opportunity for alumni & fans to directly support student-athletes, while opening avenues for athletes to use their NIL to make a positive impact on local charities,” The Matador Club wrote on Twitter.

As is showcased on The Matador Club’s website, the nonprofit is “a community-serving NIL collective” that has four primary objectives: collaborate, support, promote and connect. The Matador Club’s mission statement is also public on their website.

“Statistics show that 85% of student-athletes with full-ride scholarships live in poverty. This doesn’t even touch walk-on players. We want to help change that,” the mission statement reads. “The Matador Club is a non-profit, 501(c)3 organization. We create avenues for Texas Tech student-athletes to make a positive impact with their name, image, and likeness (NIL). And our partnership with local organizations gives student-athletes meaningful NIL collaborations. We’re focused on the well-being of our Tech student-athletes and our community.”

According to The Matador Club’s website, donors can make a one-time gift or set up a reoccurring monthly donation. The nonprofit also lists its six board members, which include Cody Campbell, Tim Culp, Terry Fuller, Marc McDougal, Gary Petersen and John Sellers.

Division I school set to announce NIL deal for all scholarship athletes

Grambling State University, a Division I athletics school that participates in the Southwestern Athletic Conference and at the FCS level in football, is set to announce a NIL deal for all of its scholarship student-athletes, according to ESPN college football insider Pete Thamel.

Thamel reports that every Grambling State scholarship athlete would receive annual income for their Name, Image and Likeness with the deal, which is being arranged with a pair of outside companies in Urban Edge Network and Athylt.

While Thamel says that the income amount for the student-athletes is “unclear right now,” he notes that the NIL deal should help out new head football coach Hue Jackson as he builds Grambling State’s program.