A group of Texas Tech donors will reportedly extend yearly NIL deals to 100 Red Raiders football players ahead of the 2022 season, according to a report from the Lubbock Avalanche–Journal.
All 85 of the program’s scholarship players and 15 of the top walk-ons will be eligible to receive a renewable one-year deal worth $25,000 from the Matador Club, a non-profit organization comprised of private donors. Players who accept the offer will be expected to complete community service and other charity work around Lubbock, Texas, efforts that will continue throughout the next year, per the Avalanche-Journal.
Cody Campbell, a founding member of the collective’s board of directors and former Texas Tech offensive lineman from 2001 to ’04, explained the purpose of the pacts will be simply to “support the entire program.” He also noted that the Matador Club hired an attorney to ensure they are operating in compliance with NCAA rules, and will begin distributing monthly payments beginning the first week of August; the deals will not restrict players from pursuing other NIL deals.
“Collectives have done things a number of different ways,” Campbell said. “You see some of them paying large amounts to individual players. You see others doing different things. But what we want to do, really, is support the entire program. This is kind of a base salary for the guys. They’re not going to be restricted from doing any other NIL stuff with anybody else. In fact, we’re going to encourage and help them to do that.
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“But this is just something that’s going to make sure that guys feel supported by the Texas Tech community, that they are comfortable and in a position where they can stay in the program and develop themselves, because we really believe in what coach (Joey) McGuire and his staff are doing in terms of being focused on long-term player development. We think that’s the key to Texas Tech, in particular, having success.”
In regards to The Matador Club’s plans for other Texas Tech athletic programs, Campbell said the group plans to move forward with the men’s basketball and baseball team “in the next weeks, months to come.” Outside of his work with the collective, Campbell donated $25 million in December toward the renovation of the south end of the Red Raiders’ home, Jones AT&T Stadium, which will be named in his honor after the project is completed.
In the year since Texas Gov. Greg Abbot signed the state’s NIL law into action, Texas Tech athletes had “disclosed NIL deals that totaled almost $1.7 million” as of June 30, according to the Avalanche-Journal. In all, 170 male and 48 female student-athletes have “disclosed 534 NIL deals that averaged $3,180 per activity.”
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