When Ohio State unveiled a splashy jersey patch sponsorship with JPMorgan Chase this week, the deal was said to be worth eight figures annually for its athletic department.
ESPN reported the nation’s largest bank is due to pay Ohio State nearly $17 million per year as part of the partnership.
But the announcement did not disclose the full terms, including the compensation details and length of the agreement. Those might never be made public.
Ohio State denied a public records request by The Dispatch for a copy of the agreement, noting it is structured as a deal between JPMorgan and Learfield, the sports marketing company that handles corporate sponsorships, advertising and multimedia rights for athletic departments across the country.
Learfield
maintains exclusive rights to sell sponsorships that include corporate patches on uniforms, ranging from jerseys to pregame warmup gear and equipment, under its multimedia rights deal with Ohio State.
Ohio State amended the agreement last year to allow Learfield to solicit jersey patch sponsorships as part of its inventory in anticipation of the NCAA rule change allowing for corporate logos on uniforms. The association adopted the policy in January.
As a private entity, Learfield is not subject to public records laws.
Ohio State has used a similar arrangement for other major sponsorship assets. It engaged Learfield to sign Safelite as a field sponsor at Ohio Stadium in 2022. The terms were not disclosed.
Sponsorship deals are a large source of revenue for the school’s athletic department.
The department reported $42.8 million in revenue from royalties, licensing, advertising, and sponsorships during the 2025 fiscal year, according to its financial statement provided to the NCAA. Only ticket sales ($81.7 million), contributions ($68.3 million), and media rights ($64.9 million) generated more during the period.
Expanded sponsorship deals offer a potential boost for athletic departments that are dealing with rising expenses related to athlete compensation.
The settlement of three antitrust cases last year allowed schools to begin directly sharing revenues with their athletes for the first time.
Ohio State is due to disburse the maximum allowable amount of $21.3 million to football, men's and women's basketball and women's volleyball players during the 2026-27 academic year. The maximum amount is subject to an annual percentage increase.
Jersey patch sponsorships figure to become a popular revenue source for athletic departments in the near future. Three other Big Ten schools – Illinois, Michigan State and Wisconsin – have announced deals this summer, and Notre Dame announced a deal hours after Ohio State revealed its sponsorship with JPMorgan.
The Chase logo will appear on the uniforms of all of the Buckeyes’ 36 varsity sports beginning this fall. Its placement is on the chest or sleeves of the various jerseys in images shared by the athletic department.
Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Email him at jkaufman@dispatch.com and follow him on @joeyrkaufman on X.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Why Ohio State's reported $17M jersey patch deal with JPMorgan Chase isn't public
