NCAA Reportedly Expected to Approve CFB Uniform Patches Before 2026 Season
The NCAA is reportedly expected to approve sponsorship patches on college sports uniforms by the fall of the 2026-27 collegiate athletic season, per Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports, who provided more information.
Dellenger went deep on the topic of jersey patches last December, noting that collegiate sports leaders were considering a change to allow football and men's basketball teams to wear uniform patches.
"In anticipation of a rule change, in fact, the industry's multi-media rights giant, Learfield, plans to announce an initiative, Performance Partner Alliance, to help deliver a jersey patch solution for its schools.
"Why is a solution necessary? Jersey patches are not only, for now, against NCAA rules, but apparel partners such as Nike, Adidas and Under Armour have existing contracts with schools that prohibit other branding on jerseys and uniforms. It's an untapped source of revenue at a financially stressful time for athletic departments moving into the age of athlete revenue sharing."
Simply put, there's millions of dollars to be made with the addition of jersey patches.
Eric Olson of the Associated Press spoke with Learfield President and CEO Cole Gahagan, who said the NCAA's 67 power-conference schools plus Notre Dame could access "hundreds of millions of dollars of new revenue" with the manuever.
Sports marketing data firm SponsorUnited reported that 23 MLB teams with jersey patches "generated a total of $204 million" from those sponsorships, per Olson.
At this point, this seems like a matter of when and not if it's officially approved.
"It'll come, and it should come," Nebraska athletic director Troy Dannen told Olson. "As part of the NCAA modernizing its rules, it's overdue."
Olson did note a potential roadblock. Of course, numerous apparel brands already have their logos on uniforms they supply the school, with examples being adidas, Nike and Under Armour. They have "exclusivity clauses" in their contracts and don't allow marks for other corporate sponsors on their uniforms.
However, Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt doesn't see that being an issue in this potential new sponsorship era.
"I've found that adidas in everything we've had conversations about — jersey patches included — has been open minded and reasonable and willing to consider any opportunity that's going to advance Texas Tech athletics," Hocutt told Olson.
All roads ultimately point toward this happening next year, ultimately, as college sports joins the professional ranks on the jersey patch front.
