Taking advantage of new NCAA rules that allow teams to sport corporate logos, Kansas Athletics announced on Wednesday morning that every KU sports uniform will feature an XRP patch as part of a “multi-year partnership” with Ripple.
Ripple is a technology company of which KU alumnus and Topeka native Brad Garlinghouse is the CEO. XRP is a cryptocurrency used on the company’s XRP Ledger blockchain. In a social media post, Ripple declared the deal “the first-ever crypto sponsorship of a major college athletics program.”
“This era of college athletics demands innovative, forward-thinking partnerships,” KU athletic director Travis Goff said in a press release. “Ripple recognizes the unique reach and passion of the Jayhawk community, and we’re proud they have chosen Kansas Athletics as a premier platform to introduce XRP to millions of sports fans. Having the XRP logo displayed on our Jayhawk uniforms reflects a shared commitment to innovation and excellence.”
KU is the second school in the Big 12 to announce a jersey patch deal, following Oklahoma State’s with the Osage Nation. The conference itself also revealed on Tuesday that all of its member schools’ football and basketball jerseys will feature a hybrid Big 12 and Monster Energy logo as part of a new deal with the energy drink company.
What’s not clear is whether that Monster insignia counts toward the limit of two corporate logos that a team can display on its apparel during the preseason and regular season, under the NCAA policy. (The team can also have one more on its equipment, and during conference championships add a third logo to the apparel.) The Big 12 didn’t respond to a request for comment on this topic on Tuesday.
Terms of KU’s deal with Ripple were not disclosed. In a CBS Sports article earlier this year, Brandon Marcello wrote that Learfield CEO Cole Gahagan defined the range for a jersey patch deal “from roughly $500,000 to more than $12 million annually.” The Houston Chronicle previously reported that space on the jerseys of the UH football and men’s basketball teams would garner between $1.5 million and $2.5 million for each sport.
Gahagan’s company, which holds multimedia rights for KU via Jayhawk Sports Properties, helped facilitate the partnership between KU and Ripple.
“Under Travis’s leadership, KU has not only elevated the entire athletics department, but the Jayhawks have reimagined what is possible in today’s rapidly changing environment,” Gahagan said in the release. “This partnership with Ripple highlights the extraordinary collaboration between Learfield and Kansas Athletics, integrating XRP branding into unforgettable moments and incredible experiences for Jayhawks fans.”
In speaking with the Journal-World back in May about the prospect of a jersey patch deal, Goff had said he believed “there’s a way for it to be a partnership that transcends just a logo on a jersey.” The way in which the Ripple relationship will do so, according to the press release, is that the cryptocurrency company “will fund financial and technology education programs for KU student-athletes and the campus community, covering both traditional finance and digital assets, and will expand its existing talent pipeline connecting Kansas graduates to careers across the technology industry.”
Depending on the nuances of the Big 12 deal with Monster, KU should in theory be able to add more corporate insignias to at least its athletic equipment and its conference-championship apparel if it so chooses.
“Our football program is excited to proudly display the XRP logo on our jerseys,” KU football coach Lance Leipold said in the release. “We’re thankful to have such a strong relationship with Ripple through the leadership of CEO and proud Jayhawk, Brad Garlinghouse. We think this is a great partnership between two strong brands with bright futures.”
