Penguin Collective Gives First NIL Payments to YSU Athletes

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The first round of name-image-likeness contracts to Youngstown State University football players – totaling $23,000 – was recently unveiled.

The Penguin Collective, a group that raises money from private businesses for NIL deals and facilitates contracts in which players are used in their advertising, announced the deals at a private event this week. 

The collective is not affiliated with YSU.

M.R. Lab and the Rubino family partnered with the collective on a $10,000 package to partner with Dra Rushton, Ryan Johnson, Greg Benton and D’Marco Augustin. Each player received $2,500.

The Rick Blaise Foundation contributed $2,500 to both Quincy Lenton and Bryce Oliver.

Doug Kimbel at Fred Martin Ford contributed $4,500 for Mitch Davidson, who will make appearances for the dealership and promote it on social media.

White Glove Payroll provided $1,000 to Jordan Trowers in exchange for doing on-campus promotion for the local payroll processing company.

Finally, Dan Dull at Tavern 26 signed a $2,500 partnership with Aidan Parker to help promote his restaurant in Campbell.

“We’re excited to get the ball rolling on this for YSU,” said Tim Petrey of the Penguin Collective. “The NIL is an absolute game-changer for all of the NCAA. YSU is one of the first universities in its various sporting divisions to have an active NIL collective and is actually leading the way in terms of best practices in building this platform correctly to ensure the university and its athletes are protected.”

The collective will host more events this summer for people interested in participating. Go to thepenguincollective.org to sign up for the newsletter.

Pictured at top: YSU athletes receiving NIL money are Ryan Johnson, Greg Benton, D’Marco Augustin, Mitch Davidson, Jordan Trowers, Quincy Lenton, Dra Rushton and Bryce Oliver.

Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.