Kansas Athletics is putting an XRP Cryptocurrency patch on every jersey worn by University of Kansas athletic teams after announcing a partnership with Ripple, a blockchain-based enterprise solution that spans traditional and digital finance.
The move fits a clear trend in college sports: sponsorships are no longer just a pro-league thing. Kansas is following the path already taken by Oklahoma State, becoming the second Big 12 school to add a sponsor patch to its jerseys. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, though the source says the annual value could be anywhere from $1 million to $12 million.
The timing also lines up with the Big 12’s own push into sponsorship money. At Big 12 media days, the conference announced a partnership with Monster Energy that will put Monster Energy patches on football jerseys, as well as men’s and women’s basketball jerseys, for every Big 12 program.
Monster Energy is now the official energy drink of the conference and the title sponsor of Big 12 media days for football and basketball. Its branding will also appear on football fields and basketball courts.
Each Big 12 school will receive $1 million annually from that agreement.
Kansas is not operating in a vacuum here. The source points to the Kansas City Royals, who added a QT (QuikTrip) patch to their jerseys last season. That move drew pushback at first, but the team and company have since turned it into a source of promos, and most fans no longer seem bothered by it.
The broader picture is hard to miss. The NBA already has sponsor patches on 29 of its 30 teams, with the Portland Trail Blazers the only holdout after having jersey sponsors in previous seasons.
Every MLS team has a sponsor on the front of its jersey. In the NHL last season, 28 of 32 teams had jersey sponsors, and all teams had helmet sponsors.
The NFL remains the lone major American pro league that does not allow jersey sponsorships.
Kansas says the Ripple partnership will help enhance educational programs for KU student-athletes and the campus community in both traditional and digital finance, while also helping build a pipeline for graduates into careers across the technology industry. The source also notes that the money could help with the expensive additions to the football stadium and potentially chip away at that project over the next several years.
There’s also a bigger roster-building angle at play. With the transfer portal functioning like free agency every offseason, these sponsorship dollars can help programs keep up in a competitive recruiting market. But whatever language schools and conferences use to sell these deals, the source is blunt about the reality: it’s about the money.
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