Middle Tennessee State Ditches Alternate Uniforms to Pay Players

The sport of college football is changing. Fancy facilities and alternate uniforms provided the bells and whistles to hypnotize recruits, and nobody did it better than Oregon. In the world of NIL and revenue-sharing, money talks. Rather than spending money on equipment, Middle Tennessee State is investing that money into its players.

Finding money to pay players is a challenging task for SEC programs. It’s exponentially more difficult at the Group of Five level. In Conference-USA, Middle Tennessee State found a creative way to provide its football players with more money.

General Manager Dana Marquez joined Derek Mason‘s program this offseason. He shared his bold idea with Front Office Sports. Middle Tennessee State eliminated its alternate uniforms to save $688,000.

“How are we going to best compete against different positions if we’re sitting here spending money on stuff that really we’re only wearing one time a year?” Marquez tells Front Office Sports. The three-year plan started with cutting two of their uniforms (black and gray) and four of their helmets. “We just went with one color, and we did a game helmet and a practice helmet,” Marquez says.

According to Marquez, about 30% of the roster is receiving NIL payments. Some of the money Middle Tennessee State saved will go directly to its players. It comes with conditions.

The Blue Raiders must earn their money, and it isn’t all about how they perform on the field. Each position group is competing against the other to sell tickets. The unit who sells the most tickets to the season-opener against Austin Peay will receive an undisclosed grand prize.

“What it’s doing collectively is getting them engaged in the community, and now our fan base is now recognizing our players,” Marquez says. “That’s what NIL was supposed to be. It wasn’t meant to be, ‘Here’s a bunch of money. Go play football.’ Our big difference, across the country, is that our athletes have bought in.”

Middle Tennessee State regularly competed in the postseason during Rick Stockstill’s 18-year tenure in Murfreesboro. After a 3-9 campaign during Derek Mason’s first season, the Blue Raiders have to find creative ways to be successful in the changing landscape of college football. If that means asking players to sell tickets and eliminating alternate uniforms, they’re willing to do it. They won’t be the only Group of Five school that gets creative to remain relevant in this silly sport.