Currently, the NCAA’s rules prevent programs from putting advertisements on their jerseys. LSU, however, is hopeful that will soon change.
With revenue sharing now a reality in college sports, athletic departments find themselves examining their budgets. And that includes evaluating potential new revenue streams, with The Advocate‘s Wilson Alexander reporting that LSU wants the NCAA to reverse course on its regulations regarding jersey ads, which Tigers deputy athletic director for revenue generation Clay Harris says would bring the department “multiple millions of dollars a year.”
LSU has even already identified a partner for such jersey patches, although it declined to reveal the potential sponsorship. The department has also mapped out where each patch would go across every sport’s uniforms, with most being placed on the jersey’s chest and in the Tigers’ signature purple and gold colorway.
“We don’t have this as some crazy, NASCAR-like situation,” Harris told The Advocate.
While The Advocate‘s report first ran in late-June, it resurfaced on Monday thanks to the popular UniWatch blog. Phil Hecken noted that Oklahoma State attempted to enact a similar measure by adding a QR code for its NIL collective to its football helmets, although that practice was quickly shut down by the NCAA. Hecken also speculated that it’s a safe bet LSU isn’t the only athletic department currently exploring such options.
Although the practice of selling jersey advertisements is still relatively new in the United States — the NBA first started allowing them in 2017, while the NHL and MLB followed suit in 2022 and 2023, respectively — at this point, it seems like a matter of not “if” but rather “when” they’ll become permissible at the college level. After all, many schools were quick to take advantage of a change to the NCAA’s rules last year, which allowed them to sell on-field ads.
The official implementation of revenue sharing via the House settlement last week has only increased schools’ desires to generate additional revenue. And when jersey ads inevitability become a part of that equation, it appears LSU will be one of the first in line to take advantage.