Sponsor patches in the NBA, which first appeared during the 2017-18 season, seem to be the watershed moment for on-field advertising. Soccer uniforms, of course, always looked a little bit like billboards. But among the “big” sports in the U.S., sponsor logos on uniforms were relatively unheard of. MLB followed suit in 2023, and now college football teams are starting to add patches to their uniforms.

The latest to jump on the bandwagon: Ohio State.

The Buckeyes will join other schools, including The University of Memphis, Louisiana State University, the University of Wisconsin and the University of Illinois as NCAA football teams with advertising space – and it all feels a bit like the logical next step to the growing name, image and likeness boom, where student athletes can financially benefit the same way that a professional athlete might be able to profit from their likeness or their name as a trademark.

Ohio State’s sponsor? Chase Bank.

NEWS: Ohio Stare is entering a new corporate partnership with JPMorganChase that includes jersey patches for all 36 OSU teams. Per industry sources, this is expected to yield OSU nearly $17 million per year, an eye-popping number that’s expected to be an industry leader. pic.twitter.com/rZkkeYAuTM

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) July 28, 2026

The NCAA officially allowed student athletes to profit from their NIL in 2021, meaning that athletes could sell branded merchandise or jerseys and the money would go directly into their pockets, rather than their schools’.

Since that time, some schools have set up NIL programs as ways to entice potential student athletes to come, ensuring them more than just a free education or even the chance to go to the pros – they could now use promotional merchandise to make money during their NCAA eligibility. It’s been a way for students outside of the major sports like football and basketball, too, to “go pro” in their fields, like gymnastics or swimming.

Although Chase is a global conglomerate, it has a local pull in Ohio – the company’s history includes adding Banc One of Columbus, and there are still more than 11,000 employees at the Columbus office.

“JPMorganChase is a global brand with deep roots in Ohio, making them a natural partner that shares our commitment to innovation, excellence and long-term community impact,” Ohio State Athletic Director Ross Bjork told The Athletic. “Together, we have built a comprehensive and historic partnership that reflects the strong commercial strength of the Ohio State Athletics identity and the broader college athletics landscape.”

So, what does this all mean for the average promotional products distributor?

For starters, it’s an example of how something as simple as a patch can have strong branding power; it’s all about the context around it. Yes, the patch needs to look good and highlight a brand identity. But when placed on an item with a little more mobility or gravitas, like a hat worn every day or even as a sponsor location on a garment that gets a lot of eyes, it becomes much more impactful than its size would imply.

There are also the lessons that a distributor of any size can bring to promotions they might be doing with local sports leagues or school teams.

The Ohio State deal with JPMorganChase is worth $17 million per year, and includes patches on all the uniforms for the school’s 36 sports programs. The University of Illinois inked a five-year deal with Busey Bank worth $30 million. There’s big money in this sort of program, meaning there is an incentive for sports programs or schools looking for funding boosts to incorporate sponsor logos. Ohio State told The Athletic that this agreement “enhances the Buckeyes’ overall competitive success and facilitates academic partnership across the university.”

A distributor can supply products like apparel featuring a logo or patches that can be applied to hats, backpacks or other garments. They also might consider signage to go around the sports field.

This trend indicates that the NIL world within college sports is still very much growing. From major programs like Ohio State down to Division III schools, student athletes are looking to take advantage of the NIL playing field by selling everything from apparel to collectibles – many of which could be sold online through a dedicated e-commerce platform created by a distributor. This is the sort of thing that an athlete or athletic director might be interested in but not know how to do or where to start, which is where a distributor can come in to help a client solve an issue they might not even know they have.

The sports world is changing, and sponsorship and promotion are at the heart of it. Pretty soon they’ll be selling signage to replace the band member that dots the “i” in “Ohio” on the field – that would be a huge sale for a distributor.