By Mark Pszonak
Nobody should be surprised that this is the direction that collegiate sports is going. Money has always been important, but never more than in the current NIL world. Because of this, schools across the country are constantly looking for ways to get more. One obvious method would be to sell advertising space on jerseys, no matter how tacky it may look. While it shouldn’t be surprising that this is being talked about, it should be surprising that one of the first schools that seems to be immediately ready to start this practice is LSU.
The Tigers have long had one of the classiest and cleanest football jerseys in the country. But according to Wilson Alexander of the Baton Rouge Advocate, LSU is ready to sully that.
LSU hopes the NCAA will allow schools to sell patches on their jerseys, something (deputy AD for revenue generation Clay) Harris said also generates “multiple millions of dollars a year.” LSU has identified a partner, which officials declined to name, if the rule changes.
LSU has mapped out where the patches would go on every jersey, from cross country to football. Most of them would appear on the chest, in purple and gold.
“We don’t have this as some crazy, NASCAR-like situation,” Harris said.
© Scott Kinser-Imagn Images
More Sports News
Not only are they prepared to add patches on their jersey, LSU admits that it would go on the chest. Not on the sleeve or top of the shoulder, but right on the chest. While they may not think that this would be a “NASCAR-like situation” this is immediately the first thought everyone will have whenever they see this become a reality.
For now, rules still don’t allow this, but that is likely to change just like many other things have in college sports over the last few years. And while LSU definitely won’t be the only one to do it, another sign of the changing times will be stamped official when the Tigers trot out onto the field Tiger Stadium on a Saturday night with a Waffle House logo slapped on their chest.
