New revenue stream: NCAA will allow schools to incorporate on-field corporate logos

The NCAA has approved a policy change to allow schools to place corporate logos in the middle of their football fields – a development in direct response to the need to find new revenue streams in the aftermath of the House v. NCAA settlement agreement.

The swift move on the heels of the NCAA and power conferences approving settlement terms reflects the enormous financial stress test stakeholders are preparing for when a revenue-sharing model takes hold, perhaps as early as fall 2025. The news was first reported by Yahoo! Sports.

Schools are hoping for a jolt of new, much-needed sources of revenue stemming from on-field corporate logos and, potentially down the road, jersey patches, much like we’ve seen in some professional sports. 

“You’re talking about some of the most important IPs in the world are these IPs of these schools,” Craig Sloan, president of Playfly Sports, told On3. “And you can’t, from a commercial perspective, get better proximity to that IP than to be on the field or on the uniform. You are talking about the most valuable real estate that exists in any ecosystem, but specifically with college are these two positions.”

Sloan added to expect “tremendous reaction from the advertising marketplace.”

“Innovation is going to have to happen to create new revenue pathways for what’s needed now to fund the NIL efforts in general, the student-athlete as a university employee [potential model], things that are all happening in real-time,” Sloan said. “It can’t be done with just saying, ‘Sell the existing inventory for more.’ So we’re being challenged. We’re actually proactively in many ways going to our school partners and going with concepts that we think have high value from the advertising and brand community.”

NCAA schools facing enormous financial stress test

Limited on-field corporate signage has traditionally been permitted only for entities that hold venue naming rights deals. 

But times are changing.

“I believe the NCAA is going to allow us to put a sponsor logo on the field during the regular season,” Florida Athletic Director Scott Stricklin said last week. “That’s an obvious revenue stream that has not been there in the past. Pro sports are putting patches on jerseys. That doesn’t seem like something that is crazy for us to consider these days.”

As part of the House settlement terms, the NCAA and all 32 Division I conferences will pay some $2.8 billion in damages over a 10-year period. In addition, schools, at their discretion, will be able to share up to $22 million annually with athletes.

That salary cap will rise as revenue rises in the coming years. Steve Berman, co-lead counsel for the plaintiffs, told On3 that the figure will rise 4% each of the first three years, and it will continue to keep pace with increasing revenues.

The settlement still needs to be approved by U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken in the coming months.

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said: “We’ve had jersey patches in bowl games. I would anticipate there’s going to be a continuing push [for new revenue streams]. And we’re going to have to come to some agreement in this new environment on where those limits exist.”