LSU deputy AD Clay Harris announces Tigers have signed multimillion-dollar jersey patch sponsor

In September, Yahoo! Sports‘ Ross Dellenger reported the NCAA is considering making a rule change that would allow sponsors to pay schools to place their logos on team uniforms. On Thursday, Front Office Sports revealed LSU has already struck a deal in anticipation of the change.

“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.

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Harris did not reveal which company agreed to a deal with LSU. However, he did reportedly note LSU could “rival some of the top pro sports teams” in jersey patch dollars.

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,” said Josh Whitman, athletic director at Illinois and chair of the committee. “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, but that could change. The NBA, MLB and NHL each already allow their teams to make sponsorship patch agreements. With mounting pressure, the NCAA could be next.