Kentucky is adding a new look to its football uniforms, and it comes with a sponsor attached.
The Wildcats announced Friday, Sept. 4, that UK Invests will be featured on sponsored jersey patches beginning Saturday, Sept. 5, when the 2026 season opener against Youngstown State arrives. The school did not disclose how long the agreement runs or what it is worth financially.
“A jersey patch is one of the most visible brand opportunities in college athletics, so fit matters,” UK athletics director and Champions Blue CEO J Batt said in a release. “We want to find partnerships that work for Kentucky, and UK Invests represents that kind of alignment.
This is a program that has invested real dollars in UK students while encouraging healthy habits that prepare them for lives of meaning and purpose. This patch gives us a significant way to tell that Kentucky story through one of the most watched sports in America.”
UK Invests, launched in 2022, is described by the school as “a financial wellness program that combines financial education with real-world opportunities to help UK students build greater financial security and healthy saving and investing habits.”
The partnership goes beyond the uniform. According to the release, Kentucky football will also “showcase storytelling on UK Invests’ success and growth through integrated multimedia activations executed by JMI Sports - UK Athletics’ exclusive multimedia rights partner operating locally as UK Sports and Campus Marketing - including Kroger Field signage, videoboards, radio and TV inventory, coaches’ endorsements and in-game features highlighting students who participate in the program.”
The move comes as jersey patches become a new revenue stream across college athletics. In January, the NCAA Division I Cabinet voted to allow schools to sell ad space on uniforms, equipment and apparel beginning Aug. 1, and since then dozens of programs have rolled out patch deals worth millions annually.
Notre Dame announced a six-year deal with SoFi for patches on jerseys for all sports on July 28, a sponsorship Yahoo Sports said is expected to be the most valuable of its kind in college athletics at an average of $18-20 million per year. Hours later, Ohio State unveiled a jersey sponsorship with JPMorganChase worth more than $15 million annually.
Louisville also expanded its partnership with L&N Federal Credit Union on Aug. 27, with football and volleyball set to wear patches starting in the 2026-27 season. The Cardinals did not reveal the total value of that deal.
Michigan State, where Batt previously worked, announced its jersey patch agreement with MSUFCU on June 15, the same day Batt was announced as Mitch Barnhart’s successor.
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