Ohio State's athletic department is set to receive nearly $17 million per year from JPMorgan Chase as part of a jersey patch sponsorship deal, ESPN reported.
ESPN reported the nation’s largest bank is due to pay Ohio State nearly $17 million per year as part of the partnership.
However, the announcement did not disclose the full terms, including the compensation details and length of the agreement. Those might never be made public.
Ohio State denied a public records request by The Dispatch for a copy of the agreement, noting it is structured as a deal between JPMorgan and Learfield, the sports marketing company that handles corporate sponsorships, advertising and multimedia rights for athletic departments across the country.
Learfield maintains exclusive rights to sell sponsorships that include corporate patches on uniforms, ranging from jerseys to pregame warmup gear and equipment, under its multimedia rights deal with Ohio State.
Ohio State amended the agreement last year to allow Learfield to solicit jersey patch sponsorships as part of its inventory in anticipation of the NCAA rule change allowing for corporate logos on uniforms.
The NCAA adopted the policy in January, paving the way for schools to sell jersey patch sponsorships to major corporations.
Sponsorship deals are a large source of revenue for the school’s athletic department, with the department reporting $42.8 million in revenue from royalties, licensing, advertising, and sponsorships during the 2025 fiscal year.
Only ticket sales ($81.7 million), contributions ($68.3 million), and media rights ($64.9 million) generated more during the period.
Ohio State is due to disburse the maximum allowable amount of $21.3 million to football, men's and women's basketball and women's volleyball players during the 2026-27 academic year.
The maximum amount is subject to an annual percentage increase, reflecting the rising expenses related to athlete compensation.
Jersey patch sponsorships figure to become a popular revenue source for athletic departments in the near future, with three other Big Ten schools – Illinois, Michigan State, and Wisconsin – having announced deals this summer.
Notre Dame announced a deal hours after Ohio State revealed its sponsorship with JPMorgan.
The Chase logo will appear on the uniforms of all of the Buckeyes’ 36 varsity sports beginning this fall, with its placement on the chest or sleeves of the various jerseys in images shared by the athletic department.
Ohio State has used a similar arrangement for other major sponsorship assets, engaging Learfield to sign Safelite as a field sponsor at Ohio Stadium in 2022.
The terms of that deal were not disclosed, leaving some to question the transparency of Ohio State's sponsorship agreements with Learfield.
The athletic department's reliance on Learfield to negotiate sponsorship deals has raised concerns about the lack of public disclosure on the terms of these agreements.
Ohio State has yet to release a statement on the matter, leaving the details of the JPMorgan Chase deal shrouded in secrecy.
Source: Yahoo Sports