Former shocker baseball players Tyler Weber and Tymber Lee started a name image and likeness, NIL,  collective group for Wichita State student-athletes to earn money. They titled the group Armchair Strategies LLC. 

After starting the group in April of 2022, Armchair started to have an impact on Shocker athletics immediately. 

Director of Athletics Kevin Saal met with both Weber and Lee a few times since taking on his new position this summer.

“First and foremost they are interested in protecting the integrity of the institution because that’s important to all of us,” Saal said.

Armchair Strategies helped student athletes put themselves out in the Wichita community this summer. They helped Wichita State men’s basketball team host an event called Downtown Get Down at the Wichita Riverfest and a local basketball camp at Wichita Sports Forum where Lee is a co-owner.

With the support of Armchair Strategies, Wichita State softball player Sydney McKinney also hosted two camps called Camp Syd in Wichita and Grain Valley, Missouri.

Weber said a few big announcements are underway in the next few weeks to discuss what NIL is, a new platform that Armchair Strategies has partnered with and how fans and boosters can support a student athlete’s name, image and likeness at Wichita State.

“There just needs to be a lot of information about NIL and kind of what it is,” Weber said. “Our biggest question that we hear from most folks is they just don’t understand NIL.”

Any fan interested in supporting an athlete through NIL can reach out to Armchair Strategies.

“We are going to give that same opportunity to all the 10,000 fans that sit at Wichita State basketball games, or support softball, or baseball, or volleyball or women’s basketball,” Weber said. “It doesn’t matter. If you are sitting in an armchair you now have the ability to support NIL. Whether it’s 10 dollars a month, whether it’s a 100 dollars a month, whether it’s a big donation one time.”

Weber said the basic process of helping an athlete navigate the NIL landscape is to make sure they know how to keep their eligibility.

“They sit down with us,” Weber said. “We go over what the contract is. We meet with the team you know and explain NIL. The in’s and outs and you know at that point they can come talk to us. Then we sign an non-exclusive agreement and then they go to town so that we can do deals outside of just working with us.”

Armchair Strategies currently represents Wichita State student athletes from volleyball, men’s and women’s basketball, softball and baseball. Weber said the goal is to represent every athletic program at Wichita State.