Latest news with #MatadorClub
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback and Texas Tech alum Patrick Mahomes hooked up the Red Raiders softball team with an exclusive gift before the Women's College World Series championship.
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback and Texas Tech alum Patrick Mahomes hooked up the Red Raiders softball team with an exclusive gift before the Women's College World Series championship. originally appeared on Athlon Sports. You'll be hard pressed to find a star NFL player who is as plugged-in with their alma mater as Patrick Mahomes is with Texas Tech University. Advertisement Mahomes has poured countless resources into the Red Raiders, helping Texas Tech become one of the nation's leaders in name, image and likeness growth. The Matador Club, the university's NIL collective that receives regular donations from Mahomes and other alumni, strives to positively impact all sports, not just football. Softball is the latest beneficiary as they made headlines across the sports world last summer landing a shocking commitment from transfer pitcher NiJaree Canady, the reigning NFCA National Player of the Year. Canady received a contract from The Matador Club that exceeded $1 million, which is the largest softball NIL deal in history ten times over. Advertisement The Red Raiders went from a forgettable program in the Big 12 to conference champions in Canady's one season in Lubbock ... and they aren't done yet. Texas Tech is currently playing in the program's first Women's College World Series and have made it to the championship round to face their in-state rival Texas Longhorns. Money well spent. Ahead of Wednesday's Game 1, Mahomes - who spear-headed a new outfitter partnership between Tech Athletics and Adidas this school year - hooked the team up with custom varsity jackets to wear on the bus in Oklahoma City. The jacket features Mahomes' signature Gladiator logo on the back with each player's name and number stitched on the front. Advertisement Canady, who is the nation's leader in ERA and wins in the circle, is one of a select few athletes at Texas Tech who has a separate sponsorship with Mahomes' Adidas sector, but now, the whole team gets to represent. "You got a gift from your No. 1 fan, Patrick Mahomes" Tech head coach Gerry Glasco said. "The goal is, he's trying to get here in person before this series is over, but he said to go ahead and give you this tonight because he wanted to be sure you get it." Mahomes has been dialed in all throughout the Red Raiders' historic season, often seen watching games on his phone and posting about them on social media. And the players are loving the support just as much. Advertisement If you couldn't tell from their screams upon receiving the letterman jackets, the entire softball team is as big of fans of Mahomes as he if of them. Texas Tech would eventually lose a nail-biter Wednesday, falling 2-1 thanks to a two-run single off of Canady on a pitch that was supposed to be an intentional walk to Texas' top hitter. Now on the brink of elimination in the two-out-of-three championship series, the Red Raiders will hope to keep their national championship dreams alive against the Longhorns Thursday night at 7 p.m. CT for Game 2 of the series. Whether Mahomes is able to attend the game or not, you know he won't miss a pitch. Advertisement Related: Patrick Mahomes Reveals One Thing Driving Chiefs' Offseason Related: Do Chiefs Have 'Enough In The Tank' For Super Bowl Run? This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 5, 2025, where it first appeared.
New York Times
4 days ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Texas Tech softball star NiJaree Canady signs another 7-figure NIL deal with Red Raiders: Source
Texas Tech star pitcher NiJaree Canady, the first softball player to land a $1 million name, image and likeness contract, has signed another seven-figure deal to return to the Red Raiders next year, a source briefed on the deal confirmed. Canady's deal is north of $1 million, the source said. ESPN first reported her new deal. Advertisement About a year ago, the Matador Club, the Red Raiders NIL collective, paid Canady $1,050,024 to leave Stanford and head to Lubbock, Texas, for one year. The $24 was for Canady's jersey number, with $50,000 for living expenses and $1 million for Canady. The deal has paid off for the Red Raiders, who will play Texas in the winner-take-all Game 3 of the Women's College World Series championship series Friday at 8 p.m. ET. Canady has thrown every pitch — 495 of them — for the Red Raiders in Oklahoma City and has emerged as the face of college softball. Her trademark footstomp celebration — dubbed the 'Nija stomp' — has made its way to T-shirts, and Tech alum and Kansas City Chiefs superstar Patrick Mahomes was in attendance to watch her pitch in Game 2 on Thursday. In that game, Canady stopped a Longhorns' comeback attempt to even the WCWS and force a Game 3, stranding the potential tying run on third in a 4-3 win. The junior ace cruised through the first six innings but faltered early in the seventh. With Texas threatening in the top of the inning, having climbed back from a 4-1 hole to bring the game within a score of being tied, Canady faced hitter Kayden Henry with two outs and a runner on third. But Canady delivered three straight rise balls on the outside corner to strike out Henry and ice the game. Canady shut down Texas for most of Wednesday's Game 1 loss, until Texas' Reese Atwood won it with a two-run single in the sixth inning after a gutsy swing on what was supposed to be an intentional walk. It was a series of pitches Canady called a 'mistake.' NiJaree Canady closes out the win for @TexasTechSB! A winner-takes-all Game 3 of the Women's College World Series awaits tomorrow night 👀 (📹: @ESPN) — MLB (@MLB) June 6, 2025 Canady's 0.97 ERA is best in Division I, and her 317 strikeouts (in 239 innings) rank second. At Stanford, Canady won USA Softball's Collegiate Player of the Year award and led the program to two straight WCWS appearances. If Canady leads Texas Tech to a Game 3 win, it will be her and the program's first WCWS title. And now, she's set to run it back in 2026.
Forbes
4 days ago
- Sport
- Forbes
NiJaree Canady Inks Second $1M NIL Deal To Stay At Texas Tech
OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA - JUNE 05: NiJaree Canady #24 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders celebrates after ... More striking out the final batter of game two of the Women's College World Series championship series against the Texas Longhorns at USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium on June 05, 2025 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Texas Tech won the game 4-3. (Photo by) Hours before the national title deciding game three of the Women's College World Series, ESPN reported that Stanford transfer and now Texas Tech pitcher NiJaree Canady inked a second historic $1 million dollar deal with the Red Raiders NIL collective, the Matador Club. Canady has thrown every inning of the WCWS for the Red Raiders, all 504 pitches. Canady led her team to a Game two victory at the WCWS on Thursday, June 5 that forced the winner-takes-all showdown. Canady is a superstar two way player as she currently boasts a 0.97 earned run average, 317 strikeouts, .156 opposing batting average, but also hits .280 with 11 home runs. According to her agent Derrick Shelby of Prestige Management, Texas Tech wanted to reward Canady for her outstanding play and keep her within the Red Raider program another year. He said, 'Nija Canady is the most electrifying player in softball. She's box office and she goes out every day and competes. The decision to stay at Tech was not difficult. This program has taken care of her. They have showed how much she is appreciated. The entire staff, her teammates, the school in general have been great." ESPN did not report the amount of the deal, but her previous year's deal was worth $1,050,024, $1 million in NIL money, $50,000 for living expenses, and $24 to represent her collegiate number. However, reported that they believe the deal is at least $1.2 million. Again, it is safe to say that Texas Tech, a program that has never even made the NCAA post season would not be in the WCWS, much less the championship series, one win away from a national title without Canady. Follow me for more softball and women's sports news on X, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
New York Times
23-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
NiJaree Canady wills No. 12 Texas Tech softball to first WCWS with upset of No. 5 Florida State
No. 12 Texas Tech upset No. 5 seed Florida State 2-1 on Friday to advance to its first Women's College World Series with star pitcher NiJaree Canady allowing just one run and five hits across the Red Raiders' back-to-back wins in the Tallahassee super regional. Canady, who made waves last summer in landing college softball's first seven-figure name, image and likeness deal, stifled Florida State, whose hitters went 5-of-49 (.102) in the series. She also hit a home run in Texas Tech's 3-0 win Thursday. The junior transfer will compete in her third straight WCWS after leading Stanford to the semifinal round in 2023 and 2024. FOR THE FIRST TIME IN PROGRAM HISTORY, @TexasTechSB IS HEADED TO THE #WCWS! 🎉#RoadToWCWS x 🎥 ESPN2 — NCAA Softball (@NCAASoftball) May 23, 2025 The Red Raiders became the first team to advance out of the super regional round, though No. 11 seed Clemson has a chance to join them later Friday after beating No. 6 seed Texas 7-4 in Game 1 of their series. Before this season, Texas Tech made just six NCAA tournament appearances and never made it out of the regional round, whereas Florida State had made it at least the super regional 11 straight times, winning a national championship in 2018. But in June 2024, Texas Tech hired Louisiana's Gerry Glasco as its next coach, and a month later landed Canady, the reigning National Player of the Year, thanks in part to an unprecedented deal from boosters at Matador Club, Tech's NIL collective. Advertisement Canady, who's been dubbed the 'Caitlin Clark of softball,' went into Friday's game with a 29-5 record, 0.88 ERA and 276 strikeouts in 198.0 innings pitched. She had a modest three strikeouts in Friday's game but shut out the Seminoles through six innings. Florida State finally threatened in the top of the seventh when Katie Dack led off with a walk and Michaela Edenfield followed with a double. Dack scored on a groundout to shortstop. But Canady got the last two FSU batters to foul out. 'To be able to do this for the first time in program history, it means everything,' a beaming Canady said after the game on ESPN. Florida State committed an uncharacteristic four errors Friday, and both of Texas Tech's runs were unearned. Its second run came in the fifth inning after Lauren Allred and Kiley Huffman both reached base on misplayed groundballs in the infield. Pinch runner Alana Johnson scored from second on a Demi Elder single up the middle despite bumping into FSU shortstop Isa Torres on the way to third. The NCAA super regionals continue through Sunday. The Women's College World Series begins May 29 in Oklahoma City.
