The NCAA will allow commercial sponsorship logos to appear on football fields for all three divisions starting in 2024. This applies to regular season games only as the majority of postseason games (particularly bowl games) already have a corporate sponsor prominently displayed or frequently referenced in the name. The logos will be limited to three on the field including one at the 50-yard line and two additional, smaller logos. One such placement would be logos opposite the conference logo at the 25-yard line as shown in this fitting example for Alabama and a sponsorship by Tide.
Thoughts
Of all the changes made in recent years by the NCAA, or even those imposed upon the NCAA, this one is rather minor. Commercialization of the sport has been happening for decades and the juxtaposition of schools being leveraged during commercial breaks or advertisements while being limited to capitalize on those opportunities themselves was hypocritical. Not a surprise that the NCAA had such a stance.
Speaking of hypocritical stances by the NCAA, the press release had this gem of a quote, “This change allows schools to generate additional income to support student-athletes,” NCAA President Charlie Baker said. “I’m pleased that we could find flexibility within our rules to make this happen for member schools.”
Translation: “We saw another potential lawsuit in our future and decided to make a ‘gesture of goodwill’ while pretending like we’re on the side of student-athletes.”
It’s worth noting that the press release doesn’t stipulate whether the revenue earned from the field logos sponsorships will be earmarked for student-athletes or will be at the discretion of the school (aka: not going back to the athletes). According to estimates, field logos could generate up to $4 million a year, which isn’t a huge amount and would scale down based on the level (FCS, D2, D3) but the smaller D1 schools could use that extra revenue, especially on the heels of the House settlement.
After years of ignoring the issues in its attempt to save its version of amateurism and the mounting legal issues, any mention of doing good by the athletes from the NCAA rings hollow. They kicked the proverbial can down the road too many times to come out the other end and be seen as an ally of the student-athlete.
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