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Knights of The Raritan / #KTR - Rutgers' First & Only NIL Launch

Jon and others involved, best of luck with this. I wish we didn’t have to do this, but I don’t see how we can stay a major school without it. Either do it or just decide to become UConn, Fordham, Kennesaw State, etc.
That’s exactly how I see it and describe to folks. We don’t want to become UConn. I hope fans rise up and carve a little out of their budgets (a tough ask, I know) to support the cause. Avoiding UConn status is paramount! Hah
 
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Few programs in the country can compete with the corporate/marketing foot print we have in the Tri-State area. This group can hypothetically maximize that, no matter what the donor enthusiasm is of the fan-base.
The financial foot print is great. The following and passion of the fan base is fair. The potential is there.

As an aside, the NIL is here. RU will need to deal with it. I'm not a fan of professional, "amateur" sports. Although I guess we can now consider collegiate athletics a semi pro organization. May the best $$ win. 👎👎👎
 
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That’s exactly how I see it and describe to folks. We don’t want to become UConn. I hope fans rise up and carve a little out of their budgets (a tough ask, I know) to support the cause. Avoiding UConn status is paramount! Hah
Can you explain how NIL Activiation works in a bit more detail? Hypothetically if you were an average Joe donating $100 to a single player and they selected autographs and memorabilia - what does that mean?
 
Can you explain how NIL Activiation works in a bit more detail? Hypothetically if you were an average Joe donating $100 to a single player and they selected autographs and memorabilia - what does that mean?
Examples:
- Autograph signing: either only for members of KTR where an athlete is paid to attend; or similarly, a pay to attend event where the player gets money

- NFT or merch sales: Player works with KTR to get an NFT or merch created, that stuff is sold, player makes the profit

- Speaking engagement: You run a financial advisory firm, and want to get new clients…you host an event where you pay a player like Geo to attend in order to drum up interest and attendance rate

- Marketing: You are launching an initiative like KTR and want clicks… you pay and have players publicize it to their social networks

- Restaurant owner: Pay for a player to attend an event in order to attract customers

For folks donating money to this cause, you can see the benefits of being a member outlined on the subscription page. In order to get those benefits, KTR will pay players. Say “autographed memorabilia” is an option… well, players arent just going to give us their signatures… KTR will pay the players for them.

KTR will act to execute NIL activations on its own behalf to support members of KTR. KTR will also serve as a liaison between the players and third party constituents in order to help the players monetize their NILs elsewhere - i.e., say Honeystinger wants a player at RU to help promote their brand, they would reach out to KTR (through SANIL, which is a sports marketing agency) and work with us to develop some sort of activation for the player.

Think that answered more than you asked for…which may have been focused on the subscription model. But I wanted to provide a few examples around how it will work with more than just subscriptions. Ultimately, the money is going to student-athletes.
 
thank you guys for putting this together! Doing a monthly subscription. will contribute more as a see more progress (i.e., retaining and attracting athletes).
 
So the NCAA ruled yesterday that collective are now under the same regulations as boosters. They can’t give money to recruits
 
Again, please explain to me why I am supposed to give you money to pass on to a student athlete who already has a full ride to my university (part of which I pay for with my tax deductible donations)? Surely the ones who make it big in the pros will donate back to their alma mater and all the schools attended in their journey. Good luck with your new treadmill. Pass. $$$$
 
Again, please explain to me why I am supposed to give you money to pass on to a student athlete who already has a full ride to my university (part of which I pay for with my tax deductible donations)? Surely the ones who make it big in the pros will donate back to their alma mater or all the schools attended in their journey? Good luck with your new treadmill. Pass. $$$$

Because if fans don't, RU is at a material disadvantage in recruiting for all sports. Despite your feelings for NIL, it's here. So, you either donate and help RU compete for the best athletes and provide the best infrastructure in place for current student athletes to help monetize their NILs... or you don't, and RU doesn't have as much to offer the kids. The school cannot be involved with structuring NIL deals. It needs to come from the fan base and a consortium...

So the way I see it... you either love RU athletics and want to help it succeed / be competitive. Or you don't, or are willing to watch it go the way of UConn and other programs which are on downward spirals into oblivion.

You can choose to do whatever you want with your hard earned money. But recognize that the reason for contributing to this is more than just "feeding athletes money"... it's about creating a strong infrastructure where student athletes can monetize their brands; an infrastructure that hopefully is attractive to student athletes when compared to other schools.
 
Nobody, I mean nobody, hates change more than me. That being said, NIL in one form or another, is here to stay. Decades ago, Fordham Football was one of the top programs in the country. They use to get big crowds at major stadiums and play major schools. They couldn’t adapt to changes in major college football and now play rinky dink schools, are never on TV, aren’t even known by high school kids, play at a field,and get “crowds” that many high schools would laugh at. If we play by the old rules and everyone else is going with the new ones, the new era will make Chris Ash look like Bear Bryant. You can’t run a NASCAR race in a Yugo.
 
Because if fans don't, RU is at a material disadvantage in recruiting for all sports. Despite your feelings for NIL, it's here. So, you either donate and help RU compete for the best athletes and provide the best infrastructure in place for current student athletes to help monetize their NILs... or you don't, and RU doesn't have as much to offer the kids. The school cannot be involved with structuring NIL deals. It needs to come from the fan base and a consortium...

So the way I see it... you either love RU athletics and want to help it succeed / be competitive. Or you don't, or are willing to watch it go the way of UConn and other programs which are on downward spirals into oblivion.

You can choose to do whatever you want with your hard earned money. But recognize that the reason for contributing to this is more than just "feeding athletes money"... it's about creating a strong infrastructure where student athletes can monetize their brands; an infrastructure that hopefully is attractive to student athletes when compared to other schools.
3448: Thanks for a truly excellent response. You clearly covered the issues as we know them right now. My plan is to continue to donate to Scarlet R and root for the athletes who choose to put on the Rutgers uniform. If the local car dealer wants to hire one or our athletes to promote their business, go for it. I simply will not be participating in NIL. Best of luck. $$$$
 
Again, please explain to me why I am supposed to give you money to pass on to a student athlete who already has a full ride to my university (part of which I pay for with my tax deductible donations)? Surely the ones who make it big in the pros will donate back to their alma mater and all the schools attended in their journey. Good luck with your new treadmill. Pass. $$$$
It’s the new arms race.
 
Earlier in the thread you expressly stated this wasn't a recruting program: (LINK)
The monies here are not directly going to recruiting new athletes. It's meant to legitimately support current student athletes. But the program itself is an attractive opportunity where coaches can say things like "we have this here at Rutgers, and KTR will help you monetize your NIL once you are on campus"...
 
The monies here are not directly going to recruiting new athletes. It's meant to legitimately support current student athletes. But the program itself is an attractive opportunity where coaches can say things like "we have this here at Rutgers, and KTR will help you monetize your NIL once you are on campus"...
And this is why that NCAA ruling doesn't matter. If you pick Rutgers you'll be taken care of. You just can't pay out before they sign on the dotted line. Once they do and the NIL is also signed in Venmo away.
 
The monies here are not directly going to recruiting new athletes. It's meant to legitimately support current student athletes. But the program itself is an attractive opportunity where coaches can say things like "we have this here at Rutgers, and KTR will help you monetize your NIL once you are on campus"...

Well, if this is true, then it's in contradiction to this that you also said earlier in the thread ...

Despite your feelings for NIL, it's here. So, you either donate and help RU compete for the best athletes and provide the best infrastructure in place for current student athletes to help monetize their NILs... or you don't, and RU doesn't have as much to offer the kids.

... because all of the big boy schools will be using NIL to pay-for-play athletes during the recruiting process. So either we at Rutgers intend to "compete for the best athletes" or we don't. And that means pay-for-play.
 
Well, if this is true, then it's in contradiction to this that you also said earlier in the thread ...



... because all of the big boy schools will be using NIL to pay-for-play athletes during the recruiting process. So either we at Rutgers intend to "compete for the best athletes" or we don't. And that means pay-for-play.
No it's not. Do you not understand the nuance in difference between direct funding for recruiting vs. having a tool that is attractive, which is alluring to kids? Nothing here will be "Hi, my name is Ken. If you come to Rutgers, I will personally guarantee that you will get a $2mm NIL guarantee. Transfer here!" We won't be involved in recruiting. That is not what this is.

Our program is meant to support student athletes. So if Geo is looking to capitalize on his brand, we will work with him to do so. The secondary benefit of that is that coaches will be able to tell kids about this great NIL program that athletes partner with. I.e., "Hey joe schmo...come play for me. If you do so, you can also do what Geo does with KTR if you are successful".

One side, the NCAA is coming down against. The other side...is the right way to do it. Nothing that I have said here or previously disconnects from each other. You just need to understand the nuance between the two.
 
3448: Thanks for a truly excellent response. You clearly covered the issues as we know them right now. My plan is to continue to donate to Scarlet R and root for the athletes who choose to put on the Rutgers uniform. If the local car dealer wants to hire one or our athletes to promote their business, go for it. I simply will not be participating in NIL. Best of luck. $$$$
100% understand, and appreciate, that. NIL is not for everyone, and we all totally get that. I had a conversation with someone last night who is directing large money to the construction of future facilities, and is thus not going to participate in this specific program at this time. He will at some point in the future, but for now, he has his energy and monetary commitments to other goals. Thankfully...all of those goals coalesce around one thing - Rutgers. So, supporting the school, its facilities, or its student athletes all work hand in hand. All I can say is, thank you for carving some of your budget out to support the school we love. Even if it's not to KTR.
 
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No it's not. Do you not understand the nuance in difference between direct funding for recruiting vs. having a tool that is attractive, which is alluring to kids? Nothing here will be "Hi, my name is Ken. If you come to Rutgers, I will personally guarantee that you will get a $2mm NIL guarantee. Transfer here!" We won't be involved in recruiting. That is not what this is.

Our program is meant to support student athletes. So if Geo is looking to capitalize on his brand, we will work with him to do so. The secondary benefit of that is that coaches will be able to tell kids about this great NIL program that athletes partner with. I.e., "Hey joe schmo...come play for me. If you do so, you can also do what Geo does with KTR if you are successful".

One side, the NCAA is coming down against. The other side...is the right way to do it. Nothing that I have said here or previously disconnects from each other. You just need to understand the nuance between the two.

You said that either you are willing to do what everyone else is doing or you don't love Rutgers athletics ...

So the way I see it... you either love RU athletics and want to help it succeed / be competitive. Or you don't, or are willing to watch it go the way of UConn and other programs which are on downward spirals into oblivion.

And I responded by pointing out that the other successful programs (the ones that aren't headed into a downward spiral) are and will be using NIL to pay-for-play. So if a person (or organization) isn't willing to pay-for-play with NIL, that would mean you believe that person (or organization) doesn't love RU athletics and isn't willing to prevent that downward spiral.

So I ask ... why doesn't isn't your organization willing to pay-for-play? Is it that you feel these pay-for-play schools will stop doing it? You said yourself, it's not going away.
 
You said that either you are willing to do what everyone else is doing or you don't love Rutgers athletics ...



And I responded by pointing out that the other successful programs (the ones that aren't headed into a downward spiral) are and will be using NIL to pay-for-play. So if a person (or organization) isn't willing to pay-for-play with NIL, that would mean you believe that person (or organization) doesn't love RU athletics and isn't willing to prevent that downward spiral.

So I ask ... why doesn't isn't your organization willing to pay-for-play? Is it that you feel these pay-for-play schools will stop doing it? You said yourself, it's not going away.
Pay to play is being cramped down on by the NCAA. And as I have said throughout all of this, NIL is evolving. It will continue to evolve. We believe that the right way to do NIL, without putting student athletes and the school at risk, is to support and empower our current student athletes.

Pay to play, in the current construct that you are seeing in the news, is going away. In some form. Or there will be a heavy battle publicly between agents and the NCAA. But the NCAA released its guidance yesterday on it, which further highlights that our program works on the side of what the NCAA sees as being acceptable.
 
Pay to play is being cramped down on by the NCAA. And as I have said throughout all of this, NIL is evolving. It will continue to evolve. We believe that the right way to do NIL, without putting student athletes and the school at risk, is to support and empower our current student athletes.

Pay to play, in the current construct that you are seeing in the news, is going away. In some form. Or there will be a heavy battle publicly between agents and the NCAA. But the NCAA released its guidance yesterday on it, which further highlights that our program works on the side of what the NCAA sees as being acceptable.
With all due respect, and playing Devil's advocate, who cares what the NCAA sees as being acceptable if the Supreme Court has already come in and said the NCAA doesn't have the authority to limit it?

Yes, there's going to be a battle between the agents and the NCAA ... and (absent an act of Congress), the NCAA is going to lose. I'm not that sure it will even be a lengthy battle because everyone knows they will lose (because a year ago, the Supreme Court said they will lose). But regardless of how lengthy the battle is, these other schools are going to use NIL to pay-for-play. If Rutgers does not, aren't we just headed into the inevitable downward spiral you discussed earlier?
 
With all due respect, and playing Devil's advocate, who cares what the NCAA sees as being acceptable if the Supreme Court has already come in and said the NCAA doesn't have the authority to limit it?

Yes, there's going to be a battle between the agents and the NCAA ... and (absent an act of Congress), the NCAA is going to lose. I'm not that sure it will even be a lengthy battle because everyone knows they will lose (because a year ago, the Supreme Court said they will lose). But regardless of how lengthy the battle is, these other schools are going to use NIL to pay-for-play. If Rutgers does not, aren't we just headed into the inevitable downward spiral you discussed earlier?
Possibly. And no doubt that this will be left up to the courts. For the time being, our NIL initiative will operate as we have said it will. It is not established to be a recruiting tool to compete in the pay-to-play space, for the reasons that I have articulated. Who knows if that policy/agenda will change in the future as NIL continues to evolve. At the same time, another NIL initiative could always be established to focus on pay-to-play...and test if there is a market of rutgers donors willing to participate in that segment of NIL. I would be supportive of folks doing so, as I have said several times above, based on the fact that the school as a whole would benefit. But I will tell you this - most coaches as I understand are more focused on ways to retain rather than buy players. That could change, who knows. We have outlined how we will support, and why we think it's compelling to support KTR.
 
Possibly. And no doubt that this will be left up to the courts. For the time being, our NIL initiative will operate as we have said it will. It is not established to be a recruiting tool to compete in the pay-to-play space, for the reasons that I have articulated. Who knows if that policy/agenda will change in the future as NIL continues to evolve. At the same time, another NIL initiative could always be established to focus on pay-to-play...and test if there is a market of rutgers donors willing to participate in that segment of NIL. I would be supportive of folks doing so, as I have said several times above, based on the fact that the school as a whole would benefit. But I will tell you this - most coaches as I understand are more focused on ways to retain rather than buy players. That could change, who knows. We have outlined how we will support, and why we think it's compelling to support KTR.
Fair enough. This was me giving you a hard time because you made the common fundraising error of suggesting that if a person doesn't agree with you or participate, they don't love Rutgers athletics; that will not generate buy-in and will only annoy people who don't already agree with you.

I don't know if I support your organization's endeavor or hope it falls apart overnight. My heart says, "it can't hurt," and my head says, "yes, it can."
 
Fair enough. This was me giving you a hard time because you made the common fundraising error of suggesting that if a person doesn't agree with you or participate, they don't love Rutgers athletics; that will not generate buy-in and will only annoy people who don't already agree with you.

I don't know if I support your organization's endeavor or hope it falls apart overnight. My heart says, "it can't hurt," and my head says, "yes, it can."
Not really. I have many times throughout the threads said I just want monies going to RU. Whether it's to facilities, to KTR, or to buy athletes...I want people carving off as much as reasonable from their budgets to do so. And I hope they see the value that KTR brings and why - which I believe is necessary to help the school survive. I contribute to athletics directly, to the business school directly, and to KTR directly. My pitch to people isn't "you aren't a fan if you don't contribute to KTR"... Specifically as it relates tot he individual above, you'll even see my direct response to him giving him a kudos for simply contributing to the school. KTR is not meant to be a rob peter to pay paul... the program was established as a means to help prevent going the way of UConn, and provide a top-tier opportunity for current student athletes to monetize their NILs... and hopefully people will buy into that pitch.

Personally, I think pay-to-play is and will continue to harm college sports. If it is upheld, I think the top-25/5o programs will only be competing with one another. And that ultimately, a semi-pro type super conference will be formed. While I don't post on TKR (only re-upped my subscription from 15 years ago last week)...I am usually on TOS...but I've been saying it for a long time. The P5 will eventually collapse. I don't know what will happen...but I can absolutely see the top 25 schools in the country forming their own super conference at the guidance of ESPN... and those are the schools who's alumni bases also step up to support NIL for student athletes, and for pay to play... I hope that doesn't happen, because I don't believe our fan base will step up to support in the same way... unfortunately. And if so, we will go the way of UConn (10, 20, 50 years from now).

Until then, KTR was founded to give RU a fighting chance. To be a step ahead. To empower student-athletes. To give coaches a means to promote the school in ways other than academics, athletics, and facilities.
 
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Thanks so much.
Thank you Jon and the others so much for doing this. I just joined up for Mens Hoops and a second membership for Football. I will also continue to support R U in every way I can but I believe NIL is here to stay and this awesome collective will be a vital piece for us to stay competitive and another great way for us fans to support our student athletes.
 
Thank you Jon and the others so much for doing this. I just joined up for Mens Hoops and a second membership for Football. I will also continue to support R U in every way I can but I believe NIL is here to stay and this awesome collective will be a vital piece for us to stay competitive and another great way for us fans to support our student athletes.
I just joined $50/mo for both football and mens hoops. Anyone can join for a lot or as little as $10/month.

Jon and everyone, thank you for the tons of time you have put into this, and for your leadership!
 
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