NCAA Approves Commercial Patches for Uniforms, Apparel, and Equipment

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) recently approved a proposal that will allow all Division I sports programs to place commercial patches or logos on uniforms, equipment, and apparel for any non-NCAA championship competition, including the regular season.

THE RULING

Beginning August 1, patches can be placed on uniforms, apparel, and equipment for all Division 1 sports during preseason, regular season, and conference championships.

Two patches will be allowed on uniforms and apparel. One patch will be permitted on equipment (e.g., helmets, bags). An additional patch will be allowed on uniforms and apparel during conference championships. All of these patches are in addition to any existing corporate branding by the uniform, apparel, and equipment manufacturers.

The size of each patch should be a maximum of four square inches.

The permitted placement of the patches is to be determined on a sport-by-sport basis by the respective NCAA playing rules subcommittees, oversight committees, and sport committees.

Official NCAA championship competitions will not allow patches for all sports (e.g., if a team makes the NCAA Tournament in basketball, it must remove the patches from its uniforms). The lone exception could be College Football Playoff (CFP) events, because the CFP is not an NCAA championship. Additional guidance is expected from the CFP on this.

The NCAA stated that policies for allowing commercial patches in NCAA championship events will be “explored … in collaboration with NCAA corporate marketing and media rights partners.” Additional guidance is expected.

THE IMPLICATIONS

The NCAA’s ruling represents a major shift in the commercialization landscape for college athletics, and its impact will be substantial across schools, conferences, brands, NIL stakeholders, and media partners.

New Revenue Opportunities for Schools

This ruling creates a significant new revenue opportunity for schools, opening a fresh category of high-visibility sponsorship inventory that has been adopted over the past few years in professional basketball, baseball, hockey, and soccer. It also comes at a pivotal time, as schools look for new ways to fund the $20.5 million in revenue they are now permitted to share with athletes under the NCAA’s updated framework.

Some schools, most notably LSU, have already begun making patch-ready sponsorship deals in anticipation of the policy shift, and with the August 1 effective date, we expect schools and brands to move quickly to negotiate and finalize partnerships ahead of the 2026 football season.

Operational and Compliance Considerations

From an operational perspective, athletic departments will need to align patch approvals across NCAA sport-specific rules committees, conference offices, NIL regulations, and their uniform, apparel, and equipment partners to ensure proper placement, sizing, and manufacturing timelines. Schools must also proactively manage compliance risks, including conflicts with existing sponsorship agreements, conference-level partners, media partners, and category exclusivity provisions that may limit which brands can appear on team uniforms, apparel, or equipment.

Effective implementation will require close coordination among compliance, legal, marketing, and equipment personnel to ensure that schools remain fully aligned across all regulatory and contractual obligations.