LSU has already signed a multimillion-dollar jersey patch sponsor deal, even before the NCAA approves a new proposal to allow commercial logos on uniforms.
“We have signed an agreement,” LSU deputy AD and chief revenue officer Clay Harris tells Front Office Sports. “We’ve mapped it out—it’ll be on all of our uniforms, every sport.”
College teams are currently prohibited from selling sponsored jersey patches, like teams in the NBA, MLB, and NHL do. But on Wednesday, the Division I Administrative Committee introduced a proposal that would allow schools to place one commercial logo on equipment used by athletes. A final proposal is expected to be voted on in January, and if adopted, the rule change would be effective Aug. 1, 2026.
Harris is “very confident” the measure will be approved, which is why his team has been working on the implementation of jersey patch sponsors for the past 12 months. In June, Harris told The New Orleans Times-Picayune that he hoped the NCAA would adopt the new policy, and the outlet reported LSU had “identified a partner … if the rule changes.” LSU would be the first program known to have a deal in place.
“It will take time for schools to move on this,” says Harris, citing the work LSU has had to do with its equipment staff and even apparel provider Nike.
Harris would not say who the company is, or exactly how much they have agreed to pay, but speculated that the Tigers can “rival some of the top pro sports teams” in jersey patch dollars. “The value of an LSU or another big brand in college sports, across all sports, could come close to what a pro sports team is getting,” he says.
While some top-tier franchises like the Knicks, Yankees, Warriors, and Lakers have signed jersey patch deals reportedly in the ranges of $20 million to $30 million annually, the average annual value of most deals is much lower, often below $10 million.
“We went through a very extensive process on the valuation piece, because we wanted to make sure we got that right,” Harris says. “We did some internal studies—we started with pro sports and had a pretty good idea of what pro sports patches were going for. And so we based it off of that.”
LSU has already been selling sponsored patches on practice jerseys and even its mascot, Mike the Tiger. This football season, the school joined the new trend of selling a field sponsor deal for the first time, with Venture Global now appearing at the 25-yard lines of Tiger Stadium.
The jersey patch proposal is one of several NCAA policy changes gaining traction this week, including new transfer portal rules and college athletes potentially being allowed to bet on professional sports.
