Ben Portnoy has covered college sports for Sports Business Journal since 2023. He joined the publication following nearly five years in daily newspapers covering the SEC, including stints on the South Carolina and Mississippi State beats.  A native of Washington, D.C., he's a graduate of Indiana University.

SBJ College: What to make of the Big 12’s Monster deal

The Big 12's deal with Monster Energy may be groundbreaking, but some detractors worry over the price. It also raises some questions about what to watch in college sponsorship. Also: Rolling up recents deals at Kansas and Charlotte, and a chat with Missouri NIL Collective CEO Mario Moccia.

College Convo: Why Missouri’s collective is working with another school

There are roughly a million off-the-field announcements this time of year, but one caught my eye:

Campus corner: Kansas goes Crypto, Charlotte rolling up commercial operations

The flurry of jersey patch announcements have kept me and plenty others in the college sports space busy. Here were a couple things that caught my eye:

Making sense of the Big 12’s Monster deal

The NASCAR-ification of college sports has begun.

Cal lands jersey patch deal with AI company Dialpad

The ACC has its first school-specific jersey patch deal, as Cal athletics has reached a deal with the AI platform Dialpad, co-ADs Jay Larson and Jenny Simon-O’Neill told Sports Business Journal. The multiyear agreement, which is set to be unveiled on Tuesday, will span all 30 of Cal’s varsity sports...

Kansas to feature cryptocurrency as jersey patch sponsor

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 B...

Playfly, DePaul agree to lengthy multimedia rights deal

DePaul is slated to announce a new 10-year multimedia rights agreement with Playfly Sports that runs through 2036, those involved with the deal tell Sports Business Journal. Exact financial terms of the agreement were not immediately available, while an official announcement is expected on Wednesday...

Big 12 strikes landmark Monster deal featuring jersey patches, field logos

The Big 12 is preparing to announce one of the most sweeping conference sponsorship agreements in college sports history.

Campus corner: Oklahoma State signs intriguing jersey patch deal, SEC and Big 12 add sponsors

For it being the middle of the offseason, last week saw a flurry of business-centric announcements in the college sports world.