Brian Kelly reacts to jersey patch sponsors in college football after reports of LSU partnership

Jersey patch sponsors have slowly been making their way into the world of sports over the past couple of seasons. This began with the NBA, NHL and MLB and is slowly making its way into the collegiate sports landscape in the near future.

On Thursday, Front Office Sports revealed LSU has already struck a deal in anticipation of the change. But there has been no indication yet as to what the sponsor will be.

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“We have signed an agreement,” LSU deputy AD and chief revenue officer Clay Harris told Front Office Sports. “We’ve mapped it out—it’ll be on all of our uniforms, every sport.”

Harris is reportedly confident the change will be approved. LSU would be the first school to capitalize on the new rules if they are approved. Harris did not reveal which company agreed to a deal with LSU, but he did reportedly note that LSU could “rival some of the top pro sports teams” in jersey patch dollars.

Following this report, LSU head coach Brian Kelly was asked for his thoughts on the jersey patch sponsors. Kelly’s answer was short and sweet. Anything that can help the University as a whole is a win for every single athletic department.

“I think anything that the University feels is needed relative to revenue streams, I’m 100% behind them,” Kelly said. “We’re all looking for ways to help our entire athletic programs. It’s not just about football; it’s about everybody across the board in all sports. LSU has an incredible reputation from an athletics standpoint. If these opportunities allows us to continue to recruit, invest in (facility-wise) and do all the things necessary to be a premier program, I’m gonna support them 100%.”

A final vote on the rule change is expected to take place in January

Under the current rules, college teams are only allowed to have the logo of the company providing the apparel on their uniforms. However, if the new rules are adopted, schools could place two additional commercial logos on uniforms and pregame/postgame apparel.

“The committee’s introduction of this proposal demonstrates the continued efforts by the NCAA to modernize rules where appropriate within Division I,” Josh Whitman, athletic director at Illinois and chair of the committee, said. “As we move into a new era of Division I athletics, in which student-athletes can receive unprecedented financial benefits and support from their schools, it is appropriate for NCAA members to identify and consider additional opportunities for schools to generate additional revenue to fully support those benefits.”

A final vote on the rule change is expected to take place in January. Last month, The Advocate reported that LSU has already considered where commercial logos would be placed on its teams’ uniforms.

“We’ve had jersey patches in bowl games,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said. “I would anticipate there’s going to be a continuing push (for new revenues), and we’re going to have to come to some agreement in this new environment on where those limits exist.”

As of this report, the NFL also doesn’t allow teams to sell commercial patches for their uniforms. However, that could certainly change. The NBA, MLB and NHL each already allow their teams to make sponsorship patch agreements, and with mounting pressure, the NCAA could be next.

On3’s Grant Grubbs contributed to this article.