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.
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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! HahJon 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.
The financial foot print is great. The following and passion of the fan base is fair. The potential is there.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.
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?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
Examples: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?
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. $$$$
Because if fans don't, RU is at a material disadvantage in recruiting for all sports.
Will this be used for recruiting athletes?
KTR is not meant to be a recruiting program. It is meant to empower current student-athletes.
3448: Thanks for a truly excellent response. You clearly covered the issues as we know them right now. My plan is to continue to donate to Scarlet R and root for the athletes who choose to put on the Rutgers uniform. If the local car dealer wants to hire one or our athletes to promote their business, go for it. I simply will not be participating in NIL. Best of luck. $$$$Because if fans don't, RU is at a material disadvantage in recruiting for all sports. Despite your feelings for NIL, it's here. So, you either donate and help RU compete for the best athletes and provide the best infrastructure in place for current student athletes to help monetize their NILs... or you don't, and RU doesn't have as much to offer the kids. The school cannot be involved with structuring NIL deals. It needs to come from the fan base and a consortium...
So the way I see it... you either love RU athletics and want to help it succeed / be competitive. Or you don't, or are willing to watch it go the way of UConn and other programs which are on downward spirals into oblivion.
You can choose to do whatever you want with your hard earned money. But recognize that the reason for contributing to this is more than just "feeding athletes money"... it's about creating a strong infrastructure where student athletes can monetize their brands; an infrastructure that hopefully is attractive to student athletes when compared to other schools.
It’s the new arms race.Again, please explain to me why I am supposed to give you money to pass on to a student athlete who already has a full ride to my university (part of which I pay for with my tax deductible donations)? Surely the ones who make it big in the pros will donate back to their alma mater and all the schools attended in their journey. Good luck with your new treadmill. Pass. $$$$
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"...Earlier in the thread you expressly stated this wasn't a recruting program: (LINK)
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"...
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"...
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.
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.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.
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.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. $$$$
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.
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.
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.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.
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?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.
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.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?
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.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.
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.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."
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.Thanks so much.
I just joined $50/mo for both football and mens hoops. Anyone can join for a lot or as little as $10/month.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.
If this board is any indication, that goal will NOT be met.