An abysmal showing by this program, for sure. What is most interesting about this NIL announcement is what it doesn't say. It doesn't say they will receive $25,000 per year. Compare the Tech boosters' collective's statement on the men's football team:
"The Matador Club has partnered to sign the entire football team to a one year, $25,000 NIL contract."
to the publicity-seeking statement on the WBB team:
"We are proud to announce that Level 13 Agency has committed $25,000 per Lady Raider in the Women's Basketball Locker Room! We see you, we hear you, and we support you ladies!" I would love to see what their NIL contracts really look like. The press release doesn't say 25k/yr., nor does it say they already have the funds committed. And, in fact, they don't. This "Level13 Agency" looks like the Tech collective formed just to funnel NIL money to the basketball athletes. They started their own podcast which has only 3 episodes. They had one of their members on this week to hype this deal. Among the things he said was: (1). that this was the first team wide NIL deal for a women's program (Wrong - Clark Field formed last Fall covers ALL UT athletes, regardless of gender), (2). "we think the biggest" (no way they'd know that); (3). "so we knew that [it] was going to create waves" (i.e. the real reason for the announcement). When asked about the nature of agreement, he said they sign the players to a guaranteed minimum through Level 13. Then, payments are broken up monthly "which allows us time to go find these deals for the players." He said it "puts pressure on us - we are going out on a limb." So they don't actually have the money yet to fund this. Also, nowhere in this 54 min. podcast does he say Tech WBB players get 25k/yr like the men's football team will:
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Last edited: Jul 31, 2022