Western Kentucky unveils "Big Red" helmet collection ahead of Tuesday's game

Western Kentucky University has arguably the strangest mascot in all of college sports. You know the one — that giant glob of red that looks more like a friendly (yet mildly frightening) McDonald’s character than a Division I mascot. But WKU sure does know how to embrace the weirdness.

On Friday, the Western Kentucky NIL Store, operated by Campus Ink, unveiled a unique new helmet ahead of the Hilltoppers home game this Tuesday against Liberty. All seven position groups for WKU will rock helmets with a different Big Red decal. Among the new looks, the quarterback helmets show a decal of Big Red throwing a football, the defensive back helmets a Big Red pass breakup, and the wide receiver helmets a ball being caught by Big Red.

The front bumper of WKU’s new helmets also shows Big Red’s empty round eyes staring straight ahead.

What's better than one Big Red?

Seven. pic.twitter.com/BM2UXFlRNo

— WKU Football (@WKUFootball) October 20, 2023

Since this collection was created through the Big Red NIL collection, players from each position group will receive a cut of the total payout based on their position. There are t-shirts and sweatshirts and much more available with the Big Red decals, too. WKU players will pocket between $6 to $15 on every sale of the shirts.

For a smaller, non-Power 5 school like WKU, this is a perfect example of how NIL can benefit every college athlete.

“Each player from a designated position group will take an even slit of total payouts based on their position,” wrote On3’s Pete Nakos, who covers NIL. “(Sean) Ellenby (Campus Ink’s marketing coordinator) said he expects this to turn into a fun competition, as position groups will compete to sell the most merchandise. On the Western Kentucky NIL Store, each athlete has a profile with the correct Big Red logo on their page. No matter what, the athletes will benefit themselves.”

WKU (4-3) is slated to host Liberty (7-0) this Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. EST on ESPNU in a Conference-USA showdown. Make sure to tune in so you can check out the new Big Red helmets.