There’s No Way Texas Tech Can Compete With Other NIL Deals

College football is changing and it looks like we may be left behind.

I do not begrudge any student-athlete getting whatever they can, while they can. After all, they are just one injury away from never receiving anything for playing and practicing sports their entire life. This is where N.I.L. (Name, Image, Likeness) rules come into play. The athletes CAN now receive some compensation, but a limit was never instituted and as a result, some athletes are already past a million dollars a year.

Texas Tech's Matador Club stepped up and made sure that all 120 football players get at least $25,000 a year (part of $8 Million being spread around all athletes according to 2022 figures).

This brings us back to the headline above. Texas Tech can't compete with larger schools. Here's what spurred that thought, all scholarship players for Utah just received a brand new 2024 Dodge Ram Truck (with Night Edition Package). That's 85 trucks! Yes, it is a "lease" that auto-renews as long as that player is under scholarship (and meets standard driving requirements), but that's a $60,000 truck to tool around town in.

So how can little ol' Lubbock, Texas compete with FREE TRUCKS? I don't think we can, or will even try. Even if we did make a larger effort, the bigger schools in the larger towns would just outspend us again.

Again, while I believe athletes deserve something for risking it for the biscuit, we are once again in a situation where the rich get richer while the poor will get poorer and school loyalties and the love of the game don't mean anything if someone has a bigger check.