1/24/2023 other sports Edit

KTR Announces NIL Deals For Every Rutgers Football, Hoops Student-Athlete

Richie O'Leary • TheKnightReport

Publisher

The Knights of the Raritan Name, Image and Likeness Collective announced on Tuesday morning that they have secured NIL deals for every Rutgers football, men's basketball and women's basketball student athlete and yes that includes the walk-ons.

"Knights of The Raritan (KTR) today announced as a result of the collective’s funding, and complementary efforts of supporters, donors and the corporate community, every Rutgers football player will receive a Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) deal in the 2023 calendar year. Additionally, KTR will complete an NIL deal with every member of Rutgers University’s men’s basketball and women’s basketball programs in the same timeframe. With the announcement of these deals, Rutgers University will be one of the first college athletics departments in the country to have deals for all student-athletes in these three flagship programs."

QUICK Q&A WITH KTR PRESIDENT JON NEWMAN...

To learn more about these Name, Image and Likeness deals between the Knights Of The Raritan and student athletes from the Rutgers Football and Basketball program, TKR spoke with KTR President Jon Newman.

How did this all come together? One person's idea? Is this part of the recent $1mill match?

It was enabled by the Million Dollar Match because the continued funding of KTR and other deals are critical to make something like this happen. It was a goal we’ve had for a while and was facilitated by conversations we’re having with representatives of the different sports

Now is this a set amount for each athlete? Similar to the Texas Tech NIL Collective deal, where each student athlete gets a set number?

Different amounts among athletes and sports.

How big is this for Rutgers Athletics in today's world of NIL?

It’s big. It shows fans, student athletes and other important audiences that Rutgers can offer great opportunities to Rutgers student athletes both on and off the court. There are few, if any colleges, who can claim what we did today.

What's next? Obviously you guys are close to finishing the $1mill match, so I have to ask this question -- what's next for KTR?

In many ways this is only beginning as we need to expand our membership to ensure there is recurring revenue for future cycles. That is why the monthly membership piece is so important. We are also working to expand our membership benefits to include more exclusive events and giveaways. More to come there.

Spread the word -- https://knightsoftheraritan.com/join/

How important is the KTR Collective towards helping Rutgers Athletics?

RFootball HC Greg Schiano on KTR: "It is. It's the way of college athletics, right now, the Knights of The Raritan have been unbelievable. The amount of work that gets done, and this is a labor of love for a lot of many people that are behind that.

I know there's been some matching things going on and a lot of the Rutgers faithful have stepped up in a big way, and we're grateful. But I'm grateful for the people that run the Knights of The Raritan because that's their time. They are volunteering their time to help us.

Like I said last time, I encourage our fans like I said last time, I encourage our fans and supporter to step up because it definitely is part of college football now. It's the way it is, and I know it's the same in college basketball. Whether you like it or not, there's a lot of different ways to look at it, really, and I understand everybody's opinion, but it is what it is.

It is the way current college football is, and for us to compete in the Big Ten east, we need to have that support, and I'm grateful for the support that we've received."