About this episode

Rachel Maeng discusses the financial dynamics of college sports and the impact of NIL on athletes and programs.

Rachel Maeng joins Eric Kasimov to talk about NIL, college sports, influencer marketing, athlete brands, and the money changing the system. Rachel is a former Rutgers student-athlete, fractional COO, NIL strategist, and founder who built and sold an influencer agency. She explains why real NIL is different from revenue sharing, why college sports keeps getting more expensive, and why access still matters. Topics covered: Why influencer marketing is the prequel to NIL What real NIL actually looks like How revenue sharing and roster caps changed college sports Why paid athletes face more fan pressure Why sports has turned into a money game The gap between top programs and everyone else How recruiting rankings and camps shape opportunity Why athletes are being asked to become media companies Why internships, mentors, peers, and sponsors matter Chapters in This Episode 00:00 — Rachel Maeng on her current work 00:34 — Fractional COO work, NIL, and representation 01:42 — Rutgers, student government, and alumni advocacy 03:27 — Rutgers in the Big Ten and the reach of major universities 05:13 — Why Rachel chose Rutgers 06:55 — Big schools, small schools, and the future of college…

People in this episode

Host: Eric Kasimov

Guest: Rachel Maeng

Topics covered

• NIL
• college sports
• influencer marketing
• athlete brands
• revenue sharing
• media companies
• sports economics

Keywords

• NIL
• college athletics
• influencer marketing
• revenue sharing
• athlete branding
• sports economics
• fan pressure

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Rutgers, NIL, Syracuse, Title IX, Big Ten

More episodes of SportsEpreneur

• Why Youth Soccer Needs Player-Led Pathways | Brando Babini of Youth 4 Youth FC · May 20, 2026 · 58 min
• NIL Is Moving From Chaos to ROI with Brent Wall of Student Athlete Score · May 12, 2026 · 54 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the SportsEpreneur podcast page.