West Virginia is adding a new layer to its athletic department revenue machine.
The school and Antero Resources are set to announce a partnership today that will put a sponsor patch for the energy company on the jerseys of all Mountaineer teams, sources told EerSports. The deal is expected to run five years, though the financial details were not immediately available and are expected to stay private.
Sources said WVU had sought valuations twice and that the final agreement with Antero Resources came in above both of those numbers. Antero Resources will formally unveil the partnership during a presentation at the Gas and Oil Association of West Virginia’s summer meetings at The Greenbrier, where president and CEO Michael Kennedy is scheduled to speak at 9 a.m.
Antero Resources calls itself a “natural gas and liquids company” and also says it is “one of the largest U.S. suppliers of natural gas and LPG to the global export market.” It becomes the fifth energy company tied to WVU athletics.
The others are already in place. Diversified Energy is the official energy sponsor.
Hope Gas bought the Coliseum’s naming rights last year. Northeast Natural Energy has backed the annual scholarship dinner, and DAC Energy spent $100,000 on men’s basketball tickets for state communities last year after a mix of public and private activity in recent years.
One source said the total annual income from those five relationships easily tops $10 million.
That kind of money matters more than ever. College athletics moved into the revenue-sharing era last summer, with schools able to set aside $20.5 million for players. That figure is $21.3 million this season and could climb another 4 percent next year before being reset for the 2028-29 year, when another three-year cycle begins with 4 percent annual increases.
Congress could still change the landscape. The Protect College Sports Act is moving closer to passage and would alter the setup, with departments designating $21.3 million for signing players, $22.5 million for retaining players and $5 million for women’s and Olympic sports.
For WVU, the Antero deal also brings a new kind of visibility. The company will be part of branding and marketing opportunities with WVU players, but the biggest piece is the patch itself - prime jersey space now belonging to Antero Resources. Sources said both the company name and its logo, a sun setting behind a mountain, will appear on the left shoulder panels.
That placement comes with a catch: Nike has strict rules. WVU and Antero Resources have to work within the apparel provider’s specifications, including a limit of one sponsor patch, which now goes to Antero Resources.
Nike’s Swoosh will sit on the left shoulder, with a still-unknown Big 12/Monster hybrid logo on the right. Nike generally wants sponsor patches on the opposite side of its Swoosh, though it does allow exceptions.
The patch itself can’t be bigger than the Swoosh and can’t reduce Nike’s visibility. It also has to stay within team colors or use a neutral design so it doesn’t overwhelm the uniform. Since the current Antero Resources logo uses a green mountain and a gold sunset, it will need to be adjusted.
Nike’s rules also keep the patch confined to jerseys. The company supplies WVU with other clothing and accessories, but the sponsor mark cannot appear on practice gear, travel outfits, media apparel or other items. It also won’t show up on retail products, though Nike can allow WVU to add sponsor patches for authenticity or to appeal to the sponsor.
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