Notre Dame may not like where college football is headed, but the money train keeps rolling, and Ohio State just climbed aboard in a big way.
On Monday, the Buckeyes announced a deal with Chase Bank that will put a Chase patch on their uniforms this season. The agreement is expected to bring in around $17 million annually, another sign that jersey sponsorships are no longer some far-off possibility. They’re here, and they’re spreading fast.
For Notre Dame, that creates a real problem. The instinct in South Bend is easy to predict: “oh heck no.”
The Fighting Irish have long treated their uniforms and golden domes as untouchable, and for good reason. Some traditions are built to resist change.
But college sports has moved well past the point where sentiment alone can keep a program competitive. Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua needs every dollar he can find, even at a school with plenty of financial strength.
In this era, there is never enough money. And the Chase deal is about more than just the patch itself.
“In addition to the jersey patch sponsorship, JPMorgan Chase will provide NIL opportunities to Ohio State athletes. Chase will also provide financial literacy resources to Ohio State athletes through “dedicated programming,” a news release about the deal stated.
That NIL piece is the part that really matters. Ohio State is not just getting a direct cash infusion; it is also adding another tool to help attract athletes. That’s the kind of advantage schools can’t ignore.
And Ohio State is hardly alone. There are now 26 different Division I schools with publicly announced school-specific agreements, which shows how quickly this is becoming part of the landscape. Programs without these deals are going to be in the minority before long.
Notre Dame has pushed back against plenty of modern college sports trends that other schools have embraced, and this is another one it is likely to dislike. But the pressure is real. The Buckeyes will debut the Chase Bank patch when they open the season against Ball State, wearing new uniforms with Buckeye stripes.
If Notre Dame can find a way to do this without making its uniforms look compromised, it may eventually have to consider it.
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