A sponsored jersey patch is coming to Oklahoma eventually, but athletic director Roger Denny is in no rush to slap a logo on the Sooners and call it a day.
That cautious approach could end up working in Oklahoma’s favor. With Ohio State and Notre Dame grabbing headlines this week for their massive jersey patch agreements, Denny made it clear the Sooners are not chasing the first offer that lands on the table.
"It's certainly something we're looking into, but we're being deliberate," Denny told Rowland. "It has to be the right deal with the right partner."
The question now is how big Oklahoma can go when it does move. Notre Dame’s $20 million annual deal with SoFi reset the market hours after Ohio State’s $17 million-per-year agreement with JPMorganChase was revealed, and those numbers instantly raised the bar for every major program weighing a similar move.
Oklahoma has a case to make that it belongs in that same financial neighborhood, maybe even beyond it. The Sooners are a blue-blood brand with one of the most recognizable logos in America, and unlike some schools that can only sell exposure through football, Oklahoma can offer a much wider stage.
That matters because these sponsorship patches are not just about Saturdays in the fall. Oklahoma’s visibility stretches across the calendar, and that gives the athletic department a stronger hand than most.
Once football season ends, the spotlight still doesn’t really leave Norman. Porter Moser’s men’s basketball team is struggling, but the Sooners still have a schedule packed with major SEC games that will land on an ESPN channel twice a week. Jennie Baranczyk’s women’s basketball program is expected to be a top-15 team again, with Aaliyah Chavez giving it one of the biggest names in the sport.
Then there’s the winter, when both Oklahoma gymnastics programs keep the Sooners in the national conversation as contenders in one of the fastest-growing sports in the country, especially with the Olympics approaching.
And when spring arrives, the attention shifts to the diamonds. Oklahoma baseball enters as the defending national champion, while Patty Gasso continues to lead a softball program that remains the standard in college softball even after a disappointing 2026. Love’s Field still sells out.
That’s the real leverage here. Oklahoma isn’t selling one team or one season. It’s selling year-round relevance.
So while the patch deal is coming sooner or later, Denny’s patience could make the difference between a decent sponsorship and one of the most lucrative deals in college athletics.
In Other News...
Oklahoma Just Added A 2028 Opponent Amid More Schedule Chaos
Oklahomas 2028 non-conference slate is already taking shape, and it now includes a game against Missouri State alongside home dates with Temple and Colorado State and a road trip to Houston. The Sooners have been steadily filling out future schedules, and the list of opponents already stretches well beyond that season, with Utah State, San Diego State, SMU, Nebraska and Clemson all appearing on the calendar through 2036.
Still, the full picture for 2028 is not settled. Financial considerations could force Oklahoma to trim the schedule, with Temple or Colorado State potentially the game that gets dropped, so the Sooners are not yet locked into all four non-conference matchups. It is another reminder that even with the long-range planning in place, the business side of scheduling can still reshape what the Sooners ultimately play. [Read more 🡒]
OU Just Got A Massive Special Teams Edge For 2026
Oklahomas special teams picture for 2026 is starting to look unusually stable, and that matters on a roster that has been leaning on consistency wherever it can find it. Redshirt senior Tate Sandell is back after winning the Lou Groza Award and setting program records, choosing another year in Norman instead of heading to the NFL Draft, while punter Grayson Miller returns after earning all-SEC first-team honors. With Isaiah Sategna also back as the punt returner, the Sooners enter the offseason with rare continuity in the kicking game.
There is still a little sorting out left, though, especially in the punting competition. Miller is set to battle Jacob Ulrich for the starting job as Ulrich works back from a hamstring injury, and Oklahoma has also added running back Lloyd Avant as a possible kickoff-return option. For a team trying to sharpen every edge before 2026, special teams may end up being one of the easiest places to gain it. [Read more 🡒]