NIL Opens Doors for All Sorts of Money-Making Opps

Thursday was a busy day on the socials, y’all. Mizzou players are working hard to make some money, and it’s honestly great to see. I thought I’d do a roundup of what I came across throughout the day. If I missed some, please let me know and I’ll update!

First up, a couple of football players showed off their new logos, including Tyler Macon and Martez Manuel.

Honestly, I find it difficult to see the M with the black background on Tyler’s post. Am I the only one?

And here’s Martez Manuel’s. The part I really, really, really love about Martez’s announcement? What he plans to do with the pile of cash he makes. What a great human, you guys.

While I am no fan of Barstool Sports, I do have to commend them for their support of college athletes with NIL. I bring them up because A BUNCH of Mizzou athletes signed up to become Barstool Athletes today, including:

Football: Ennis Rakestraw, Brady Cook, Will Norris, Boo Boo Smith, Jay Maclin, Drake Heismeyer, Daniel Hawthorne, Connor Tollison, Akayleb Evans, Kyran Montgomery, DJ Bullard, Barrett Bannister, Tyler Macon, Grant McKinniss, Jarrin McKeithen (who was also featured in this story at PM about he and Coach Fletcher rescuing a stranded driver in the flood waters on Providence)

Softball: Cayla Kessinger, Hatti Moore

Wrestling: Zach Elam, Allan Hart

Not only did Ennis Rakestraw, Jr sign up for that, he’s also promoting a new YouTube channel.

A few others signed up to be influencers for Yoke Gaming, which is an app that allows fans to play video games face-to-face against their favorite athletes.

And in my favorite spon-con of the day, we turn to Drake Heismeyer. Despite being mocked by that piece of [kansas] guy, Darren He Who Must Not Be Named, he held a signing event at Mellow Mushroom in Cottleville on Thursday evening and did two posts for local eateries with the great hashtag #69EatsLocal. Good on you, Drake!

I’m so happy for all of our Mizzou athletes finally being able to get what they have deserved all along. I am looking forward to seeing what everyone is promoting!

Onto the Links!

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Yesterday at Rock M

• Sam and Matt were back with a brand new episode of their Dive Cut PODCA$T, discussing recruiting and athletes getting that bag (legally)!
• Nate the Great talked with his lovely wife, who’s a corporate attorney, about NIL and entertainment law, and it was super interesting. As always, Nate’s captions are [insert fire emoji].
• COMING UP: Our “Team Texas” Linebacker is awarded, and Matthew J Harris will have a lengthy profile of DaJuan Gordon.

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More Links:

Football

• Is this a sign of more good things to come for the Tigers? According to new commit, Marquis Gracial, we might be posting some additional hot recruiting content.

• Mizzou QB Connor Bazelak made an appearance on the Saturday Down South podcast, chatting about all sorts of stuff. Check it out!

More News on NIL Matters

• In Ben Fred’s newest article for STL Today, he says college athletes are beginning to cash in, and the only thing ruined is the false logic that had been used to prevent it. Great stuff by him, as always.
• Here’s the info that was posted on MUTigers.com about the university’s guidelines on NIL. And here is the info on OpenDorse, who Mizzou partnered within the last few months.
• OpenDorse’s social media makes it look easy enough for its athletes to sign up to get deals.

• In an opinion piece for USA Today, Paul Myerberg wrote that after NCAA’s NIL ruling, college sports will never be the same and that’s a good thing.
• Erick Smith of USA Today wrote about how the NCAA’s band-aid approach to name, image and likeness leaves athletes and schools with confusing options.
• According to Michelle Kaufman of the Miami Herald, female college athletes may be the biggest winners as NIL laws take effect. I LOVE TO SEE IT. From the article, which makes me wish Sophie was still on the team to benefit from this:

Although their names are not as known as Trevor Lawrence or Zion Williamson, and their sports do not get nearly as much TV coverage, there are many female college athletes whose social media fame make them extremely marketable.

In some cases, they may have more earning potential than their male counterparts because when it comes to branding, the number of fans engaged with an athlete on social media can be more vital than their stats or TV exposure of their sport.

Hoops

• LOVE this from Coach P.

• Well, this is just a cinematic masterpiece if I’ve ever seen one.

• Cuonzo & Co. have really been bringing in a bunch of visitors recently. Most recently was Justin McBride! Make sure you check out Matt’s Twitter thread for all the details.

Other Mizzou Sports

• Congrats to former Mizzou Softball great Amanda Fleming on her new assistant coach gig at UMSL.

• Former University of Minnesota Big 10 Pitcher of the Year and All-American Amber Fiser is joining the Tigers staff as a GA.

• Mizzou Softball’s Emma Raabe earned CoSIDA Academic All-District Honors for her performance this season. According to the press release on MUTigers.com,

Raabe had a career season on the diamond, batting .269 with 11 doubles, nine home runs and 33 RBI, all of which were career highs. She played in 56 games while making 55 starts at first base. Raabe was one of five Tigers to record an on base percentage of .400 or higher and one of three with more than 10 doubles. The Omaha, Nebraska native is majoring in Management while holding a 3.33 GPA.

• Congrats, Marta!

Mizzou in the Pros

• SOPH!!!

• Can’t wait to watch her! Be sure to watch the full interview on Sunday if you’re local.

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