'I bawled my eyes out': Tech softball’s Peyton Blythe, coach Craig Snider react to Matador Club NIL deals
Peyton Blythe was all smiles on Thursday afternoon at Rocky Johnson Field.
Less than 24 hours earlier, the Matador Club, the donor organization that serves Texas Tech athletes through name, image and likeness agreements, which were legalized by state laws and the NCAA last year, announced it would be offering all 27 members of the Tech softball team "five-figure" deals.
Cody Campbell, a member of the Matador Club board, told the Avalanche-Journal that the deals are for $10,000 annually and will be paid out over the course of the year.
In exchange for the deals, players will be asked to participate in community service projects and appearances at Matador Club events.
That won't be a problem for players like Blythe, who said she was overcome with emotion when she heard the news.
"It's so exciting," said Blythe, a fifth-year player. "I'm going to take advantage of every moment and every opportunity I get. It was definitely a blessing. I bawled my eyes out."
These kinds of NIL deals are rare for sports outside of football and basketball, which typically generate the most financially for their schools and respective conferences. Blythe, her teammates and new head coach Craig Snider know how significant it is for a softball team to be offered this kind of opportunity.
For scholarship purposes, softball is defined by the NCAA as an equivalency sport. Division I softball programs have the equivalent of 12 scholarships that a coaching staff can divide across the roster.
"For every little girl out there that aspires to play softball, we're getting to a point now where our athletes are being treated as Power 5 football players," Snider said. "That's a different level of commitment, and I'm so blessed to be at a university like Texas Tech that's on the forefront of that."
Texas Tech is just the second softball program in the country to be offered a team-wide deal such as this. The first was Arkansas back in April. Though Snider can't come right out and say, "if you play for us, you get this much money" when recruiting players, the money itself can be used to garner some more attention to the program.
"We can't really use it in recruiting," Snider said, "but what we can say is, 'Hey, listen. This is what our athletes are getting right now.' As much as it's blown up over social media, I'd like to think recruits are taking a look at this right now and going, 'Oh, wow. That's a big deal.' It's a big deal for softball and I really hope that helps us moving forward."
Senior Ellie Bailey agrees with that sentiment. The Whitewright, Texas, native also sees the NIL deal as beneficial to the players on the team now, and not for the reasons some may think.
"If you play any athletic sport at any level in college," Bailey said, "you don't really have time for a job. you don't really have time to make money for after college or anything like that. So the NIL deal, yes it's amazing for women's athletics, but athletes in general, too. It's a nice little cushion for after college because you don't have that opportunity to have a job or get going in your life."
Even with their respective careers at Texas Tech winding down, Blythe and Bailey acknowledged that, with or without the money, they see the Red Raiders being a successful program under their new head coach.
The deals are just an added bonus.
"I want our future to be successful and I think coach Snider brings it to the table," Blythe said, "and I believe he's going to take this program where it hasn't been yet. And I'm really excited to watch and be a part of the journey at the beginning of the building blocks, just keep growing from there."
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: 'I bawled my eyes out': Tech softball reacts to Matador Club NIL deals
