The NCAA made a critical rule change in June allowing for commercial logos to be displayed on football fields, thereby opening a new revenue stream for cash-strapped athletic departments staring down legislative expenses.
Some schools are already ringing the register, but would the Texas Longhorns ever consider it? Slap a corporate logo on the field at Royal-Memorial Stadium? Put an ad on coach Darrell Royal's famous “work clothes”?
Walmart and Tyson Foods, two longtime donors of Arkansas football, are set to announce multi-year sponsorships with the Razorbacks, Sports Business Journal reported Thursday. With it, both companies are expected to get an on-field logo presence.
USC started the season with a new sponsorship from United Airlines, and the company’s logo is now painted onto the Coliseum field. That alone created huge headaches for school officials trying to get the deal over the goal line — or painted onto the 25-yard line, as it were. The Trojans went another step further and added DirecTV logos to the end zones.
USC coach Lincoln Riley said it’s an “adapt-or-die scenario,” according to the Los Angeles Times.
Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte said Thursday he understands why people are doing it with the House vs. NCAA settlement looming. The final deal has not been ratified, but 32 Division I conferences could be responsible for paying out $2.8 billion in damages over 10 years. That’s roughly $22 million annually from each school.
Texas AD Chris Del Conte’s thoughts
From the sound of Del Conte’s remarks, it’ll be a while before the Longhorns put logos on the field at Royal-Memorial Stadium. Maybe never.
“Anyone who knows me knows I’m a traditionalist. We haven’t contemplated any of that,” Del Conte told A to Z Sports on Thursday.
Del Conte has also heard talk of allowing corporate logos as uniform patches, as some major professional leagues have done. But nothing is concrete yet. Again, Texas would be highly unlikely to do that, too.
Del Conte has refused fans’ requests to have an alternate jersey combination or even a black jersey for special games. If Del Conte slapped a corporate logo on the Texas jersey, he might get run out of Austin. “We are two colors – burnt orange and white. It’s beautiful,” he said.
Texas, arguably the most financially successful athletic department in America, doesn’t need money. The football program alone generated $183 million during the 2022-23 fiscal year, according to figures obtained by USA Today.
Related: Here’s how much UTSA is getting to play Texas football as part of a five-game guaranteed contract
The Longhorns don’t need extra money
The athletic department generated $54 million through sponsorships, licensing, royalties and advertising and $86 million in donations. Both figures were at least $10 million more than the previous year. The money scheduled to flow into Texas’ coffers is expected to only grow with the move into the SEC.
Putting logos on the field or the UT uniform might be more trouble than it’s worth.
Texas would have a hard time selling a corporate sponsorship to the field. The Longhorns currently play on Earl Campbell-Ricky Williams Field at Royal-Memorial Stadium.
It’s hard to imagine UT pushing its two Heisman Trophy winners aside for a business name. The field was renamed in Campbell and Williams’ honor in 2020. Previously, it was called Joe Jamail Field in honor of one of UT’s biggest donors, who died in 2015.
Frankly, it’s hard to envision Texas putting any sort of corporate logo on anything associated with its football stadium, field or program. That said, the Longhorns do take donations via cash, check or wire transfer.
Then again, anything is possible for the right price.
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