Add UConn Huskiesmen’s and women’s basketball to the list of teams to wear sponsor patches on theirjerseys.
UConn athletics announced Friday that it had agreed to adeal with the University of Connecticut’s health system that will put the UConnHealth logo on the home and away basketball jerseys. The deal begins with theupcoming season.
Advertisement
Financial or contractual terms of the deal were notannounced although a UConnnews release said it was “among the largest integrated sponsorships inprogram history.”
The jersey agreement applies only to the basketball teams. Underterms of the agreement, student-athletes may appear in digital and social mediacontent.
“Our physicians have cared for UConn student-athletesin a partnership spanning three decades,” said Dr. Andrew Agwunobi, CEO ofUConn Health. “UConn’s championship basketball programs and UConn Health’saward-winning care both reflect what can be achieved through talent, teamworkand dedication. We are proud to see our name on the uniforms and look forwardto building on this partnership to promote health and wellness acrossConnecticut.”
Advertisement
Commemorative patches previously have been allowed to recognizeparticipation in a bowl game, for example, or to memorialize a deceased personof significance to the program.
In January, the NCAA Division I cabinet approved a proposalto allow schools to sell patch space on their jerseys as a way to bring inmillions of dollars for athletic departments, which can use the money oneverything from revenuesharing with players to capital improvements. They gave their OK to up totwo sponsor patches of no more than four square inches per jersey, effective Aug.1.
The UConn Health patch will join the Big East patch and Nikeswoosh on the Huskies jerseys. The latter two do not count toward the limit oftwo patches.
Advertisement
The agreement is only for the preseason and regular season.Rules are still to be written for postseason play, such as the NCAA basketballtournaments and College World Series.
That, of course, depends on the school, the sport, thenumber of sports involved and the exposure a school gets.
According to a Sports Business Journal reportfrom Sept. 1, Tennesseeand First Horizon Bank struck a 10-year, $120 million deal for sponsorship offootball and eight Olympic sports that includes jersey patches and namingrights on two stadium areas. The basketball program has its own deal with adifferent sponsor.
Advertisement
In that same report, Sports Business Journal also said Notre Dame‘s agreementwith SoFi could bring in as much as $20 million annually. Ohio State‘s sponsor isJPMorganChase with an annual payment of $17 million, per the report.
According to the SBJCollege Jersey Patch Deals Directory, about 80 schools have at least onejersey patch agreement. Some, like Tennessee, have multiple agreements to coverspecific sports.
