Brian Kelly opens up on new advertisements coming to Tiger Stadium field: 'You're looking for revenue streams'

LSU will debut new on-field advertisements at the 25-yard lines this Saturday when it hosts Louisiana Tech. It’s just the latest effort in the growing push to monetize everything in pursuit of the biggest coffers in college football.

The Tigers have released very little information on the advertisements, with the last known public acknowledgement of the plan coming from The Advocate this summer. But coach Brian Kelly also confirmed the plan to sell the advertising space on the field at Tiger Stadium on Wednesday on an SEC teleconference call.

“I wasn’t privy to the conversation. I know why it happened,” Kelly said. “Obviously it’s a revenue stream. I think that’s the new college football, right, with revenue sharing and all that goes with that? You’re looking for revenue streams.”

LSU is far from the only team to debut advertising on the field this fall. Several other SEC programs have also done the same.

Auburn is featuring YellaWood on the 25-yard lines. Alabama recently announced a partnership with the U.S. Navy to place logos on the field. So on and so forth.

As Kelly pointed out, that’s just the way of the world now. LSU is no different.

“I know when I was at Notre Dame they had, at that time, no advertising and now they’re selling beer in the stadium,” Kelly said. “So I think it’s just the evolution across the country of looking at additional revenue streams.”

LSU had planned for jersey patch ads

In the ever-changing world of NIL and the transfer portal, schools are looking for every potential edge to generate a little bit more. LSU is apparently looking into whether it can sell jersey patch advertisements to generate some extra revenue.

The news came this summer courtesy of a report from The Advocate, which noted that LSU “hopes the NCAA will allow schools to sell patches on their jerseys.” In the event the governing body clears it, the Tigers project they can generate “multiple millions of dollars a year” doing so.

The Advocate writes: “LSU has mapped out where the patches would go on every jersey, from cross country to football. Most of them would appear on the chest in purple and gold.” Meanwhile, a program official said the school doesn’t want to have “some crazy, NASCAR-like situation,” meaning the advertisements are likely to be fairly self-contained.

To date, though, the NCAA has not yet cleared jersey advertisements. But you can bet LSU and other programs will take advantage if and when it does.