MAILBAG! What's up with jersey patch sales, realignment, the World Cup and more

Good morning, and thanks for spending part of your day with Extra Points.

This is going to sound a little strange, but I think this is the first year since I launched Extra Points in 2020 that it feels like we have an actual offseason.

The past few summers have all had massive off-the-field stories — from COVID to Alston to Texas to the SEC — that have dominated the conversation among fans and industry types. And while there’s still plenty of news this year, from the Texas Tech gambling scandal to the Protect College Sports Act debate, I don’t get the feeling that anything has grabbed the spotlight the way some stories have in recent years.

I started writing about college sports full time in 2012, and I do remember a time when there was an honest-to-goodness down period … the sort of time when we’d all blog about Pokemon or write mini-books about the 2007 season. It wasn’t every year, but it did happen.

I feel like the biggest reason we’re in an actual offseason lull is because the World Cup has captured so much energy. I know some of you have been blowing off work to watch matches at 2 p.m. I don’t mind admitting that I have too. I’ll probably do it again on Friday so I can make sure I have plenty of time to boo Argentina.

But offseason or not, the content machine must march on. So let’s do a mailbag! It’s been a minute since we’ve done one. As always, questions for future mailbags are accepted on a rolling basis via Twitter, Bluesky, LinkedIn and email. When I get enough good ones, or when I need to catch a breather between reporting days, I’ll do a another.

Let’s get into today’s.

Reader Ted asks: What’s going on with the jersey patch market? I feel like I expected way more schools to announce patch partners by now, since the football season starts next month.

According to our jersey patch tracker, we’re up to 20 different deals across 18 different schools in Division I (Wisconsin and Nebraska-Omaha have multiple partners). Only five schools in the Power Four (Arkansas, LSU, Michigan State, Oklahoma State and Wisconsin) have announced jersey patch partners so far.

I expect those numbers to increase in the near future. Officials from some P4 programs (Clemson, West Virginia) have indicated in recent interviews that they are close to announcing partnerships, and I’m aware of at least two other FBS mid-major programs that are “close” to being able to send press releases. I can’t think of many schools across all levels of D-I that aren’t at least talking about a partnership.

But I do think it’s fair to say the market has been a little slower to develop. According to the industry folks and athletic directors I’ve talked to over the past two weeks, this is due to a combination of factors. Jersey patch partnerships are big, complicated sponsorship sales that tend to have longer sales cycles, even if everybody gets on the same page relatively quickly. There are some schools that have slow-played negotiations a bit to see what other schools do first.

I’m also told that because of the cost, there aren’t that many businesses that are well equipped to take advantage of the new inventory. There’s a reason the bulk of the jersey patch partners have been in boring industries like insurance and health care, or tribal interests. The few direct-to-consumer brands (Culver’s, FedEx, Tyson’s Chicken, etc.) were all already heavily involved in athletic department sponsorships.

(The major apparel companies have also tried to remind schools about what types of patches are acceptable and where they can go. More on this on Extra Points over the next few days …)

Schools, broadly speaking, aren’t so desperate for patch partners that they’re willing to sign on for less money, or with less prestigious companies, just to make sure they have deals secured by the start of the season. In a few months, perhaps that could change, but more schools appear to be signaling that they’re prepared to be patient in the name of protecting longer-term earning potential (and/or pricing).

My best guess is you won’t quite get to 50 percent of FBS with a patch by Week 0 this season, but adoption will grow significantly from there.

Reader Greg asks: Now that Fairfield is off to the CAA, are you hearing anything else about conference realignment these days? Anything with the NEC?

Yesterday marked the first day of the new fiscal and athletic year, meaning a ton of conference realignment moves finally became official (including Boise State to the Pac-12 and UVU to the Big Sky). We’re, uh, nearly 12 months away from the next fiscal year, so outside of the Protect College Sports Act potentially freezing some realignment options, there’s not an immediate need to act now.

But that doesn’t mean conversations aren’t happening. Here’s what I’ve been hearing recently …