Ohio State Just Put a Bank Logo on the Scarlet and Gray: College Football's Biggest Jersey-Patch Deal Yet

There is now a bank logo on the Scarlet and Gray. Ohio State has signed a jersey-patch deal with JPMorgan Chase, and it is not a small one. It is reportedly the biggest jersey-patch sponsorship in college sports to date, worth somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 to 17 million dollars a year, and it puts a white "Chase" patch on Buckeyes uniforms across all 36 of the school's varsity sports. On the football uniform, the patch sits just above the Big Ten logo.

What the Deal Actually Is

This is a straight jersey-patch sponsorship, the same kind the NBA and MLS have run for years and that MLB brought to the diamond more recently. A company pays for a small, permanent advertising mark on the game uniform. Chase becomes the first-ever jersey-patch sponsor in Ohio State history, the money reportedly clears anything any other school has landed, and the deal comes bundled with NIL opportunities and financial-literacy programming for Ohio State athletes.

Ohio State is not the first Big Ten program to do this. Illinois (Busey Bank), Wisconsin (Culver's), and Michigan State (MSU Federal Credit Union) all beat the Buckeyes to a patch. Ohio State just did it at a completely different scale, and when the sport's biggest brand signs the sport's biggest patch deal, everyone else starts running the math.

Our Take: Clean for Now, Worrying for Later

We will be honest about where we land on this. The ads creeping into every sport, and now into college football, feels like a real step, and not one we love. College uniforms have always been one of the last places you could look and just see a team, not a billboard.

Credit where it is due: the Chase patch itself looks clean and classy. It is small, it is white, it is tucked up by the Big Ten mark, and if this were the end of it, it would be easy to live with. As long as a patch stays a minor part of the jersey, it is not the worst thing in the world.

The problem is that it never stays at one. Once the biggest program in the sport proves the money is there, more schools sign more brands, and the patches get bigger and louder from there. That is the part that is going to frustrate people, us included, because at heart we will always prefer a jersey with no advertisement on it at all. For now the Buckeyes' version is about as painless as a uniform ad gets. We just hope the sport remembers that "minor and clean" is the whole reason it works, and does not push its luck.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Ohio State Chase jersey patch?

It is a small white "Chase" advertising patch that JPMorgan Chase is placing on Ohio State uniforms as part of a jersey-patch sponsorship. On the football uniform it sits just above the Big Ten logo, and it appears across all 36 of Ohio State's varsity sports.

How much is Ohio State's jersey-patch deal worth?

Reports put it in the range of 15 to 17 million dollars per year, which is believed to be the largest jersey-patch sponsorship in college sports to date.

Is Ohio State the first college team with a jersey patch?

No. Big Ten programs including Illinois (Busey Bank), Wisconsin (Culver's), and Michigan State (MSU Federal Credit Union) added jersey patches first. Ohio State's deal with Chase is the biggest one so far by a wide margin.