RAF pays college wrestlers such as Kennedy Blades well enough to cause them to walk away from their NIL and whatever divvy of revenue sharing?
Women’s wrestling isn’t receiving any revenue share percentage at Iowa. And as Iowa has been the only rev share school with a women’s wrestling program since its inception, that means no women’s wrestlers in the entire country are receiving a cut of rev share dollars.
Any NIL that they do make comes in the form of legitimate Name, Image & Likeness deals/partnerships - which quite a few of the Hawkeye women are a part of, albeit to varying degrees.
As for the RAF component, my understanding is this (and if others have heard differently, please let me know):
College athletes like Blades who have participated on RAF cards have more or less done so in an exhibition capacity - as a way to gain exposure for both themselves and for RAF to promote its new venture using popular athletes with a built-in following.
However, this new path for Blades would in essence involve a professional contract with RAF, and thus conflict with her collegiate eligibility - just as we’ve seen with athletes across other NCAA sports and various professional leagues.
