Greaux the KREWE!

[HOUCajun]

This is good marketing. I did $10/month primarily because it is a well executed and communicated strategy.

I’m still not sure about how I feel about NIL and college sports in general. But for 10 bucks we can just see how this goes

[Reality Check]

You guys write all the checks you want to lure kids to play sports at UL. IMO, NIL was created for businesses like Service Chevrolet to be able to pay athletes to "endorse" their brands. It wasn't meant for fans of a program to fork out cash through some thinly veiled collective to pay for them to come to school. If that's the case, just cut out the pretense of them having to go to class and maintain an adequate GPA. Just make them contract workers for the school and let them collect a check. Taking that idea a little bit further, two classifications of athletes could be made. One would be the contract worker who is there to just play a sport. No athletic scholarship money would be paid to them. The only benefit that they would receive would be from whatever NIL deals they could make for themselves. They would still have to adhere to the team and conduct rules of the program that they play for. The other classification would be for the true student-athlete. They would receive only athletic and/or academic money and would have to adhere to the school scholastic requirements. They would not be able to accept any NIL money. If they wanted NIL deals, they would have to forfeit any athletic or academic money. I currently support 3 athletic teams at UL with purchases of season tickets. I have no interest or desire to fork out any additional monies to pay for the privilege of watching an 18 year play a sport. If I want to watch a professional play, I'll get season tickets for the Saints.

[JMV JustMyView]

If we have nearly 8000 fans become Krewe members, each giving just $10.00 month, which is like another netflix subscription, we can annually generate $1m to help fund our program. But if we don't, we won't. The collegiate landscape has drastically changed with the recent revenue share for the P5 and if we don't grow our own NIL collective, we simply won't be able to compete. We need to the be the leader in the G5 NIL Collective space and we can do it if we all just give $10, or more, per month. Please educate and share the goals of our athletic program and help our fans understand that if we don't, we won't. Its that simple. Geaux Cajuns !

In 20 plus years RCAF has around 2000 members. 8000 for NIL will be hard to do.

[JMV JustMyView]

You guys write all the checks you want to lure kids to play sports at UL. IMO, NIL was created for businesses like Service Chevrolet to be able to pay athletes to "endorse" their brands. It wasn't meant for fans of a program to fork out cash through some thinly veiled collective to pay for them to come to school. If that's the case, just cut out the pretense of them having to go to class and maintain an adequate GPA. Just make them contract workers for the school and let them collect a check. Taking that idea a little bit further, two classifications of athletes could be made. One would be the contract worker who is there to just play a sport. No athletic scholarship money would be paid to them. The only benefit that they would receive would be from whatever NIL deals they could make for themselves. They would still have to adhere to the team and conduct rules of the program that they play for. The other classification would be for the true student-athlete. They would receive only athletic and/or academic money and would have to adhere to the school scholastic requirements. They would not be able to accept any NIL money. If they wanted NIL deals, they would have to forfeit any athletic or academic money. I currently support 3 athletic teams at UL with purchases of season tickets. I have no interest or desire to fork out any additional monies to pay for the privilege of watching an 18 year play a sport. If I want to watch a professional play, I'll get season tickets for the Saints.

This is where I am at right now.

[zeppelincajun]

I’m impressed with this recent initiative. I know the big bucks for NIL will come from businesses, but we need to get our fanbase reengaged and feeling like they are a part of Louisiana athletics again. An “it takes all of us” campaign is a nice step in that direction.

I know most people are skeptical on NIL, which I get. I try and think of it less as donating to the collective in the hopes of retaining specific players and more as donating so that our coaches have a pool of money as a recruiting tool each year, similar to facilities.

One thing I think the collective could do is not tie their imaging to players who may end up leaving. Like in the attached example, several of the early images for Krewe Allons featured Zeon. While they may have seemed like a good idea (donate so we can retain players like Chriss), it really backfires when a guy like that ends up transferring. People think I donated my money to keep him, he left, so it’s like I threw my money away. Seniors and guaranteed pros like DeBarge would be good choices IMO. Men and women who we know will have played their final collegiate seasons as Cajuns. Obviously everyone can still benefit from the collective, even those that may end up leaving in a year or two for greener pastures, but not making those potential portal entrants the face of the collective could help from a perception standpoint.

[Turbine]

Love the idea of promoting the senior success stories.

[Cajunrunner]

You guys write all the checks you want to lure kids to play sports at UL. IMO, NIL was created for businesses like Service Chevrolet to be able to pay athletes to "endorse" their brands. It wasn't meant for fans of a program to fork out cash through some thinly veiled collective to pay for them to come to school.

Bingo. Or for them to be able to receive compensation for signing autographs, if folks want to pay for such, or to be able to get paid giving hitting lessons, agility lessons, etc. in the offseason for money and not have to worry about making "too much" to draw scrutiny from the NCAA.

[JMV JustMyView]

that is correct. performance stats on the field cannot be determining factor

That is the way I understand it.

[LouisianaB]

that is correct. performance stats on the field cannot be determining factor

I don’t think that is entirely accurate.

We have to think about NIL in theory, not in reality.

If I own a business and I want to hire X to promote my product/business, the value I get is based partially on how popular X is, which in many cases correlate with how well X is playing, which can be analyzed with stats.

I know that’s not what’s going on. But again, that’s how NIL is being analyzed…theory vs reality

[LouisianaB]

I don’t think that is entirely accurate.

We have to think about NIL in theory, not in reality.

If I own a business and I want to hire X to promote my product/business, the value I get is based partially on how popular X is, which in many cases correlate with how well X is playing, which can be analyzed with stats.

I know that’s not what’s going on. But again, that’s how NIL is being analyzed…theory vs reality

To continue with the example. If X is a WR, he may get no discussion in the newspapers, on TV, etc, if he has 0 catches. He is probably not a popular player, and me using his name, image or likeness in my advertisements have little value.

But if the guy is the national player of the week, had 10 receptions, 200 yards, 3 TDs, the value I get from using his name image and likeness increases a lot

[CajunT]

I don’t think that is entirely accurate.

We have to think about NIL in theory, not in reality.

If I own a business and I want to hire X to promote my product/business, the value I get is based partially on how popular X is, which in many cases correlate with how well X is playing, which can be analyzed with stats.

I know that’s not what’s going on. But again, that’s how NIL is being analyzed…theory vs reality

I don't think so either. Incentives and Performance are clearly what was discussed in both meetings for baseball. Now, that doesn't mean there isn't a component that pays a certain amount each semester. But the way it was explained is that there is also performance incentives not just tied to stats, but GPA, Community Hours and other measurements that are already required to remain in the program. The $10 donation monthly is a way for the fan base to become invested into their program.

Other levels are business focused on monthly player and coaches' meetings, athlete engagement, marketing and other services. This is very similar to what LSU is currently doing with such businesses like Gordan Mckernan Law Firm.

I will wait until I receive feedback from the questions that I have from the meeting I attend. The $10 monthly gift is not a big deal to me, but some type of performance and incentives must be tied to next level given. No one can convince me that a Kyle Debarge should receive the same amount of NIL as a true freshman or someone else sitting on the bench. That is not how the Corporate World works or even professional sports. That is why there is a rookie salary pool in the NFL, NBA and Slot levels for MLB. You build your level of compensation based upon performance.