Penn State teases new player jersey sale partnership
Penn State head coach James Franklin said a bold and aggressive approach was needed to name, image, and likeness.
Friday morning, Penn State took an institutional step forward in that regard.
Announced via Tweet, Penn State plans to sell officially branded player jerseys as part of a partnership with Fanatics.
The news builds on an initial announcement made Thursday in which Fanatics revealed its plans to create an industry-wide partnership with college athletics programs.
From the announcement:
“OneTeam Partners is partnering with Fanatics to provide current college football players the opportunity to profit off an officially licensed co-branded jersey customization program that is set to launch ahead of the ’22 season.
“Fanatics, which partners with more than 150 schools, will offer customizable Nike, adidas and Under Armour football jerseys, while OneTeam will administer the group rights of the program’s college athletes, who can opt into the program through the free COMPASS NIL app.
“Retail touchpoints will include e-commerce, wholesale and physical stores inside stadiums and arenas. Fanatics and OneTeam plan to eventually expand the program to more men’s and women’s sports.”
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Penn State’s path forward
The news comes on the heels of Franklin’s season-ending press conference on Wednesday..
In it, Franklin was asked about Penn State football’s status with NIL. And, maybe more important, he was asked what he’d like to see take place for the Nittany Lions moving forward.
“With name image and likeness, this is something that we’ve been pushing on and talking about for two years in the football building. This was brought up two years ago, that we needed to have a plan and be aggressive and be bold with this area,” Franklin said. “Compared to the programs that you have mentioned, we’re not there yet.
“I do think we have an unbelievable opportunity at Penn State with our alumni base and our brand and our national reputation. I think we have tremendous opportunities with the education that our young men get and the foundation that our men and women leave Penn State with and the number of really, really successful alumni that we have. We have to take advantage of that. And we have to be bold and we have to be aggressive and we have to embrace it.”
Continuing, Franklin insisted that Penn State’s best path forward is to lead the way in the space nationally.
“I’d love to see us being on the front end and being the leader nationally in this these areas. But but we’re not there yet. That’s clear. And that’s obvious. We have some work to do,” Franklin said. “But I would I’d love to see us… that we are bold and aggressive in these areas and flexible. And when these new rules are put in place, we have to move and we have to move quickly. There’s there’s no doubt about it.”
