There was a bit of concerning news coming out of The Ohio State University and it comes from Ohio State Athletic Director Ross Bjork, who said he is considering “every option” when it comes to new revenue sources. That includes selling naming rights to the Horseshoe AND possibly putting ads on players jerseys.
Ohio State AD Ross Bjork is evaluating all new revenue opportunities. That could include naming rights of Ohio Stadium.
"We have to put everything on the table. Naming rights of the stadium. The jersey patch is a conversation."
via @PeteNakos_: https://t.co/YLisGHaRO3 pic.twitter.com/YMyIfKxONf
— On3 NIL (@On3NIL) August 5, 2024
The NCAA now permits on-field “sponsorships” (aka “ads”) and is considering permitting selling ads on player uniforms as well.
According to this article, Bjork recently said the following:
So Safelite is exclusive for the field naming, so it’s the field name. But in and around the perimeter of the stadium, adjacencies to the field, things like that. I’ve been saying, “Look, we have to put everything on the table.” Naming rights of the stadium. The jersey patch is a conversation. We have to work with our partner, Nike, in that conversation.
(Emphasis added)
Obviously, nothing is set in stone, but with talk of the Big XII selling naming rights to the entire conference, universities are starting to take all revenue-generation schemes seriously.
Bjork added,
If we’re breaking glass right now and we’re going to put the window back, let’s get it all on the table so we can put the window back in the right position. Everything has to be on the table right now to analyze. That doesn’t mean we’re going to do it. It just means let’s at least answer the question. Here’s the value. Is this the right thing to do? Yes or No. If it’s not, OK, fine. If it is, how do we pursue it? Or how does it fit in?
It’s not the right thing to do. Selling ad space on the uniform is about the worst thing to do.
But let’s face it — the NFL already has ads on practice jerseys (and has for some time), and they’re the last major professional league to so-far remain ad-free. If they weren’t already printing money, I’m sure Commish Roger Goodell would have given the go-ahead for jersey ads already. It probably won’t take much for them to reach a tipping point. The question is, will college football beat the NFL to ads.
I hate to say jersey ads in colleges and the NFL are almost a certainty, but the day that happens is probably a lot closer than we realize.
Will TOSU be the first to go with an ad? Who knows, but at least they’re being up front about exploring it.
Your thoughts?
Of course that’s the next step for OSU (and college football). Apparently, all that Big 10 TV money just ain’t enough.
I know they aren’t as high profile, but just today, Florida International University sold the naming rights to their stadium to Pitbull. Paying the school $1.2MM per year for 5 years for Pitbull Stadium.
link
Yep. Stay tuned for an article on that!
Crazy, but I can see it helping programs like here in Hawaii. We need a stadium, and in the meantime, whatever we can do to boost the profile of the school and get finances to upgrade our facility, I’m for it. I mean, for goodness sakes, we didn’t even make the release of College Football 25. For goodness sakes, I’ll 3D model the stadium in Revit for free for EA. Regarding the ads, just keep it classy and relevant. I love jersey design, I’m of the opinion that if they are going to put ads on a jersey, they follow the graphic standard of the school, not the other way around.
But Phil and Jim would rather UH have less money for your football program because they prefer not to look at advertisements where they don’t want to see them. Seems like a reasonable request, right?
I know these all bleed into each other, but I’m not overly concerned with naming rights for stadiums or fields. I’m against it, and don’t like it, of course. But on the uniforms of an f-ing COLLEGE team? That’s total crap.
Yet this site continues to run ads.
How is it not hypocritical?
We’ve been over this countless times. UW is not opposed to ads, per se, but we ARE opposed to advertising where it does not belong (like school buses, or public buildings or uniforms).
Paul frequently points us towards this excellent piece that explains it. Please give it a read. Thanks!
link
What you mean to say, of course, Phil, is that you’re opposed to advertising where YOU FEEL it doesn’t belong. The core feature of the UW people seems to be conflating your opinion with fact.
Since this merely amounts to a difference in opinion and the people who run college football disagree with you, perhaps you should re-consider your view that it is not hypocritical for you to benefit from advertising while complaining about universities doing the same.
By the way, the sheer amount of advertising on your site makes it nearly unreadable. Right now there’s some bs video playing right next to the typing box. It’s annoying and ruins the aesthetics of the site, which I know UW cares about greatly (supposedly).
And compared to a tiny jersey patch, it’s much more intrusive. If UW was a jersey, the whole thing would be covered in ads and the numbers and logos would be barely visible.
Not a fan of the site’s ads either, but it is free, so I don’t even think about them and understand they help keep it free.
When I look at the photo of the OSU player above, I don’t love the Big 10 logo on there either, i.e., the conference’s ad (you can’t see the Nike “maker’s mark” in the pic, but I’d be fine with that going away as well). An add on the other side to me just makes it a jumbled mess, sort of like the inevitable playoff/bowl patches, etc. Those are short lived though, so whatevs. We’re all seeing it right now with NBA and MLB uniforms, especially the addition of ads that are not even the teams’ colors. I think that’s what bugs me more than anything.
You are right, of course: it’s a matter of opinion re what’s OK and what’ not, but I don’t see the site’s opinion being hypocritical.
There is a place for advertising….in a stadium and on a website.
That being said, I don’t think there’s a place for it on the field, on the uniforms, and in the middle of the screen on a website.
I used to complain that pop-up ads are the equivalent of jersey ads: very annoying and out of place. If I ran the site, I’d see if there’s a way to get rid of pop-up ads while keeping the others. If that’s not possible, I’d go to subscription-only.
But I don’t run the site.
By the way, the UW+ membership is worth it. Before I became staff I subscribed and the experience was so much better.
So, 25 bucks a year to hear all about your uniform opinions (representative of a tiny minority of the public, imo) without advertising. I’m sure you won’t be surprised to hear that I will pass on that offer.
I got a nice chuckle over UW’s vehement proclamation (In the linked ad policy statement) that you’re giving away — giving away — all this wonderful content “for free!” Gentlemen, respectfully, your opinion is worth absolutely nothing! As is mine! And I can get all the uniform facts on Sportslogos or social media. So, there is simply nothing worth paying for here, in my considered opinion, of course. And your mileage may vary.
Have you ever considered how many subscribers and readers you have lost by insisting on leading with your opinions? Here’s one, and I’m not alone.
Have you considered the moral and ethical issues with “reviews” of pieces of art?
I think we’ve reached the point where I have to ask…if you don’t like us, why are you torturing yourself by staying here?
I’m not saying you need to leave, but I’m also saying we’re not changing the very nature of a site that reviews uniforms (which includes criticism as well as praise) to satisfy the desire of one very disgruntled reader. You can hang around and read for free in between ads, but I don’t see any point in continuing this conversation. Hopefully you find something you’ll enjoy, but if not, there’s always sportslogos.net as you keep reminding us. Have a good day.
Chris, I think you’re way off on this one.
These days, every news outlet is trying to charge its audience, from ESPN to WaPo to your local online newspaper. That to me is more heinous – local and national news is important, and we shouldn’t have to pay to access it (at least above and beyond our cable TV subscription or ISO provider bill). Analysis and critiques are a whole different ballgame. People read these for entertainment or to stay informed on more niche topics.
As for the UW stance on advertising… I am a lot more receptive to uniform advertisements as I was born in the 90s and my favourite sport by far is soccer. I do think there is an argument against the Big Four sports teams introducing uniform ads, but for me it’s more like “How greedy can you be?” as opposed to some dramatic assertion that they are sullying the sanctity of our beloved uniforms. I think the same applies for a school like Ohio State… Do they really struggle to get funding? Or are they just being downright greedy?
Either way, there is pretty much zero overlap between advertising in professional sports and on a small site like Uni Watch. How exactly do you expect this site to exist without some form of revenue?
I’m not even going to touch the “ethical” part… Reviews/critiques of art have existed for as long as art has been a way to make a living.
One thing to consider: Ohio State has 36 varsity sports, more than any school in the country. When a lot of colleges decided to dump several men’s (and sometimes women’s) sports to satisfy Title IX requirements, OSU kept them all. Just retired AD Gene Smith, and new AD Ross Bjork, have said that despite the NCAA’s new revenue sharing with athletes, which will cost Ohio State tens of millions, they will still continue to support all 36 sports. Plus, OSU will now offer full scholarships or nearly full scholarships to all athletes in those sports, which will also total in the tens of millions. While I don’t support uniform ads, I’ll cut Bjork and OSU some slack for “exploring all options” when the school has more athletes and the biggest and most expensive athletic department in the country. Also, Smith has noted in the past, with very specific dollar amounts, how Ohio State football (and to a miniscule amount, basketball) bankrolls all of the other 30+ sports.
So what is your next trolling destination? You know what? I am not really interested in that. Lead a happy life. Goodbye.
Question from a non-staff member… How do you expect this site to exist without ads?
All of this gets into the larger question of advertising in general. I worked in media and have dealt with ethical issues surrounding ads for years. The simple construct is that a paying customer is paying for the content (i.e. newspaper articles, sporting event, food, clothes, etc.). If I’m not paying for said content then I’m making a tradeoff to be advertised to so the company providing said content can pay the employees making said content. If I’m paying for the content I should not be weeding through an endless amount of advertisements to find said content.
For sports, I don’t have a major issue with some forms of advertising around sporting events (i.e. dead ball commercials on tv and billboards throughout the stadium facade) but bombarding the field with in person ads, digital ads on the broadcast and other such idiotic things is actually something that will turn off your consumer base and hurt your long term sales.
I don’t watch sporting events in person or on tv to be advertised to. I come to watch and consume the game and all the in game time ads are a complete turnoff when I’m paying to watch said event.
The people in charge need to consider the long-term ramifications of what they’re doing. It’s hurting them and they don’t even realize it’s happening.
Gotta pay for that roster some how, eh?
Colleges and universities might as well just sell ad space all over their campuses. Chipotle Science Center, IBM Quad, Draftkings Recreation Fields. Maybe they could use that revenue to lower the cost of tuition… ha, what was I thinking.
Not sure if I am surprised that A Ohio State University is one of the first to go public with this. I guess in the world of paying to acquire “student” athletes the schools flush with cash are just likely to sell out their prestige as the schools hurting for cash.
They already do. Although usually it’s after donors
Seems with NIL, more money is needed, eh?
Collwge football is just now coming to real terms with what it has long been–quasi professional football. Ads are the logical next step. The problem is that it’s an endless hamster wheel of course that most schools need to assess whether they want to continue on. I think for the large majority it makes zero sense to stay the course, and they should consider either moving to a lower division or dropping football entirely. Yes, that sounds radical, but these are the times we live in. A Vanderbilt for example has zero hope of ever competing for a playoff spot given the new SEC makeup (short of some incredible investment in resources, time and luck). Mosf D1 programs are in a similar boat. For me the advent of jersey advertising really should be a wake up call that only a handful of schools should play championship ball, the rest should find another path.
What’s radical is universities acting as a minor league for the NFL and NBA. Rather than, gee I don’t know, focusing on education.
Completely agree. I have heard that it’s been suggested that there needs to be some determination in Pennsylvania whether Penn State is a great university with a good football school or a good university with a great football team. As a tuition payor, I struggle mightily with $700 million being spent on Beaver Stadium upgrades, regardless of the source. That’s one year full tuition including room and board for 20,000 students basically to support a football program that uses the stadium 6 or 7 times a year, plus a half dozen or so concerts. Priorities….
Not to defend PSU, but to be fair — the football program probably generates enough revenue as it is not only to support the football program, but also every other campus sport, plus the salaries of all involved and then some. So to say they could either spend $XXX on the football program or on room & board isn’t really equivalent. If you didn’t have football, you wouldn’t have any of that B1G money coming in.
I’m NOT saying it’s right by any means (far from it) — but these universities are all about the bottom line.
I saw a graphic somewhere a couple years back. The highest paid employee at almost every major university wasn’t the dean, or any professors or any of the guys working on a cure for cancer. It was always the Head Football Coach. And if it wasn’t the football coach, then it was the basketball coach.
We could go off on a whole rant about the inequities of that all, but now is neither the time nor the place.
Phil is correct. Penn State’s football program pays for the rest of the school’s athletic programs. And travel costs are going up with pretty much every team making an annual cross-country trip (Sports other than football will play USC & UCLA or Oregon & Washington during that trip.).
Logical fallacy
A university that focuses on education is not precluded from having an investment in their sports.
Ironically, focusing on ones own education would result in one understanding that.
This gives the state of Michigan the opportunity to do the funniest thing . . .
Anyone else have Bjork’s music in their head now?
I’m still hearing the Sugarcubes.
Actually, I have my mind more on Brant Bjork.
Disgusting, but not surprising. College Football sold its soul a long time ago anyway. The greed knows no bounds….no amount of money is ever enough. They will always claim that they “need” more. They think if something generates more money that automatically makes it the better thing to do. That’s a sad a way of thinking, but that’s kind of where we are at in our society also.
College football is the second most popular sport in the USA (behind only the NFL). Compare its TV ratings tonMLB and the NBA. And in some areas (much of the South ) CFB rivals or even exceeds the NFL in people’s interest. If you’re disgusted these developments just stop watching.
Doesn’t Ohio State’s basketball team play at Value City Arena? Seems like the cat is already out of the bag in Columbus when it comes to stadium naming rights.
I’m still calling it Schottenstein Center!
per Wikipedia: The facility is named the Jerome Schottenstein Center in honor of Jerome Schottenstein, of Columbus, late founder of Schottenstein Stores Corp. and lead benefactor of the project, while the seating bowl is named for Schottenstein’s store Value City Furniture.
Logical step for being the minor league for the NFL and NBA. It is a disgusting development but most fans will not care about it as they are so accustomed to watching ads on their screens and in public spaces all day. I still expect worse: naming rights for team names. The United Airlines Chicago Bears. The In And Out Burger Los Angeles Lakers. The Spotify Seattle Mariners. Or just skip the geographical names, like in Japanese and Korean Baseball. Go SoftBank Hawks, go AllState Buckeyes!
It doesn’t take a genius to see an ad on an Ohio State uniform is worth a lot more than an ad on a Florida International uniform. Telling someone not to monetize their products because they don’t fit your sense of aesthetics strikes me as a fool’s errand. Yes, I realize the irony of making this statement here!
“If we’re breaking glass right now and we’re going to put the window back, let’s get it all on the table so we can put the window back in the right position”
Hopefully OSU can afford an offensive lineman who can block that metaphor!
Sheesh, of all the programs…
Like, you could absolutely see some struggling mid-tier school going for it just for the press, á la Boise State’s blue field…but one of the, say, top 3 B1G schools? One of the more iconic stadiums in sports, let alone college ball?