After speaking to a range of industry sources since the NCAA’s decision to allow on-field sponsorships, Pete Nakos of On3 reported that athletic departments could net $2 million to $10 million annually from such advertisements.
At the upper end of that spectrum are Power 4 college football programs, which could see sponsorship deals worth $8 million to $10 million annually, Nakos reported.
“If we use stadium naming rights as a proxy for this next horizon of opportunities for our schools, what the data tells us is that in the majority of cases, those are local or regional brands that want to be a part of these big-time sponsorships,” said Cole Gahagan, the president and CEO of multimedia rights holder Learfield. “If you zoom out and look at the total landscape of naming rights in college sports, typically those are regional, if not local brands, to Ames, Iowa or Lubbock, Texas or Gainesville. Florida, or Eugene, Oregon.
“If we go off of precedent and the data that we have, my guess, is the bulk of these on-field sponsorships will be local or regional brands.”
Learfield works with more than 160 properties that are in the exploratory phase of on-field ad, Nakos reported, adding, "Gahagan also echoed what multiple sources told On3: Brands who want to spend marketing dollars through on-field sponsorships could incorporate NIL deals into their plans.
"The NCAA only just permitted on-field sponsorships, however, the expectation is jersey patches are not far off from being approved in the next couple of seasons. The patches are a more lucrative property than on-field sponsorships, sources told On3."
Playfly Sports Properties’ portfolio includes more than 25 universities. The multimedia rights partner is working with Vision Insights to measure and provide values of TV-visible signage for college football and basketball games, Playfly president Craig Sloan recently told On3. This will be able to measure the on-screen visibility of on-field brands.
“You can’t, from a commercial perspective, get better proximity to that IP than to be on the field or on the uniform,” Sloan previously told On3. “You are talking about the most valuable real estate that exists in any ecosystem, but specifically with college are these two positions.”
