The Univ. of Kansas is dipping into uncharted territory -- at least by college sports sponsorship standards. The school is slated to announce a five-year deal with digital finance company Ripple that will feature the cryptocurrency XRP on jersey patches across all Kansas athletics uniforms, Sports Business Journal has learned. Those involved with the agreement declined to share specific financial terms, but sources suggest it’s among the most lucrative jersey patch-centric deals in college sports to date.
“We felt better about something that would encompass all of our programs, and then something that would transcend just a jersey patch,” Kansas AD Travis Goff told SBJ. “It’s one thing to put a logo on jerseys. It’s a whole other opportunity to bring to life the story of what that business, that company, that entity represents and what they do in the marketplace.”
The deal -- which was brokered by Learfield’s KU arm, Jayhawk Sports Properties -- came together functionally through Goff’s relationship with Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, a Kansas grad and Topeka native. Garlinghouse, who served as KU’s student body president during his undergrad years, eventually passed the discussion onto his marketing team, where talks progressed with the school and its Learfield team.
“We’re at a stage where you have a pioneering industry in crypto and blockchain meeting a pioneering time and place around collegiate athletic programs,” Garlinghouse told SBJ. “That is an opportunity to jointly innovate and to jointly try new things.”
The deal will include branding across Kansas athletics venues, digital properties and event signage, along with the aforementioned jersey patch. Ripple will also fund financial and technology education programs for KU athletes and work to add Kansas graduates through job placement, internships and more across the technology industry.
“I’ll call this more ‘emerging’ than I would call it ‘controversial’ or ‘risk,’” Goff said when asked about the potential response to a deal promoting a cryptocurrency. “Is there a little bit of a leap of faith on both parties’ sides? I think it is. … At the end of the you’re working with a space and a category that is very innovative and can rapidly change. I think college athletics sounds that way, too -- pretty innovative and can rapidly change.”
“What college athletics is clearly showing is an openness to aggressive partnerships outside of traditional thinking,” said Learfield EVP Andrew Wheeler. “Ripple and XRP are outside traditional thinking, obviously, as a category. Travis and his leadership at Kansas embraced Brad and his company. They’re thrilled and proud to do it and we were proud to be a part of it.”
Kansas is the second Big 12 school to reveal a jersey patch deal following Oklahoma State’s agreement with the Osage Nation that was unveiled last month.
Learfield has been responsible for 13 jersey patch deals out of the 25 such agreements that have been announced nationwide, per SBJ’s College Jersey Patch Deal Directory.
The KU deal also comes just a day after the Big 12 announced its own sweeping jersey patch deal that will see Monster Energy’s logo incorporated into the league’s logo on jersey patches, on-court and on-field branding.
The Monster deal, which sources said is expected to pay Big 12 schools around $1M annually, was tailored to not preclude member institutions from selling their own jersey patches. It does, however, include some protections and exclusivity around the energy drink category.
