Texas Tech is moving toward another round of commercial branding on its football stage, with a field logo already lined up and the possibility of jersey patches still under discussion.
Robert Giovannetti, Texas Tech’s senior associate athletics director, said Tuesday that the school has drawn meaningful interest from potential sponsors for uniform patches, though he would not say a deal is likely to be finished before this season.
"I wouldn't be surprised if we have one," Giovannetti said, "but I don't know if I'd use the term 'expect'. I think we understand the value.
We understand the importance. We understand that we need to monetize where we can, but I think we want to make sure we have the right partnership and we get the right price for it."
His comments came the same day Ohio State and Notre Dame announced department-wide sponsorship agreements that will put sponsor logos on uniforms across all of their sports. Reports say Ohio State is set to receive about $15 million to $17 million annually in a multi-year deal with JPMorganChase, while Notre Dame is expected to get between $18 million and $20 million per year in a six-year agreement with SoFi Technologies.
Those deals involve jersey patches for every team at each school. Texas Tech has not reached that point yet, but the school is clearly exploring the option.
The NCAA’s Division I Cabinet approved commercial sponsor patches in January, and the rule takes effect Aug. 1.
Kirby Hocutt had already signaled months ago that Texas Tech would be ready to enter that market once it became legal.
"We've received significant interest," Giovannetti said on Tuesday, "and we're just vetting all of those. Obviously, we want to take our time and get a partner that we feel was going to be worth the long-term investment. But we don't have anything pending right now."
The Red Raiders are also adding another sponsor mark to the field itself at Galaxy Stadium. In June 2024, the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved ads in three field locations: one centered at the 50-yard line and up to two smaller ads elsewhere.
Tech athletics spokesman Matt Dowdy said a Galaxy logo will go below the Double T at midfield in the newly renamed Galaxy Stadium. Giovannetti added that Learfield, Texas Tech’s multimedia rights partner, already has a sponsor secured for one of the other two field-logo spots.
"We have one done," Giovannetti said. "I don't think it's been announced yet by Learfield.
Learfield has taken the lead on that. That'll be pretty quick."
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