Notre Dame athletics made NCAA history on Tuesday, as it bested Ohio State’s previous top earning jersey patch sponsorship with one of its own.
The Irish have partnered with SoFi to have its logo on each of its athletic team’s jerseys, a deal that is worth $20 million-per-year. The announcement took social media by storm, and it was a huge topic of conversation. When the Buckeyes big number came out earlier in the day, I wondered if Notre Dame would go the same route due to its national brand, and it happened.
To me, this is a very smart move, as it won’t take much away from any of the classic uniforms that any Irish team wears, and it will bring in plenty of money to the athletic department. However, that wasn’t the exact sentiment on social
media, as you can see some of the best reactions to Notre Dame’s historic deal below.
Notre Dame is embracing this era of college sports
In all seriousness, you take TWENTY ($20!) million in exchange for a measly sponsorship patch on your jersey every single time in this era of college sports. What a haul for the Notre Dame athletics program. https://t.co/otYwJag7Ui
— Tyler Horka (@tbhorka) July 28, 2026
It would be hard to turn down this kind of money for something that won’t really damage what the uniforms look like. Horka is right, you make this deal knowing that it will give the athletic department much more leeway to build facilities and upkeep every program.
Did Notre Dame, Ohio State or Big 12 have the best patch deal?
If you owned a business, would you rather sponsor Ohio State or Notre Dame sports or the entire Big 12? pic.twitter.com/UNCqq0VNlp
— Ari Wasserman (@AriWasserman) July 28, 2026
It’s pretty safe to rule out the Big 12, as their deal with Monster was across their conference and wasn’t nearly as much total each year. The question is, did Notre Dame or Ohio State win on Tuesday, and Andy Staples believes it was the Irish. Hard to argue with the dollar amount being higher, but it also had to do with the school brand.
Did Notre Dame fund its entire roster with the SoFi deal?
I will say this:
$18-20 million basically funds your roster.
That is not insignificant, and in this new era where Notre Dame is committed to winning a National Championship, it makes sense.
Balancing tradition and innovation is hard. I’d wager Rockne would’ve had it already. https://t.co/Qo0utBdgTs— The 4 Horsemen Podcast (@HorsemenPod) July 28, 2026
Name, Image and Likeness have changed all collegiate sports, and with player now earning money, having a huge bank to pull out to play the players will be a massive advantage for Notre Dame. The key here as The 4 Horsemen Podcast points out, is the commitment to try and bring a championship back to South Bend. To keep up with other top schools nationally, the Irish had to make a move like this.
Not everyone is excited about Notre Dame’s jersey patches
Just realized ND is actually going to have a jersey patch pic.twitter.com/fxIjvNuLUU
— Top Tier Notre Dame (@TopTierND) July 28, 2026
There’s two sides to every argument, and while it does take a bit away from tradition, it’s just keeping up with the current college athletics atmosphere. Sure, it’s going to take some getting used to, but after a few games, you probably won’t even notice them.
A preview of what the SoFi Notre Dame football jersey’s will look like
2026-27 Expected Uniforms pic.twitter.com/Mvd0ave9Si
— ND Uniform Tracker ☘️ (@ND_unitracker) July 28, 2026
Well done ND Uniform Tracker to give us all few options of what the patch will look like this fall. As said above, it’s not a huge change, just a small tweak that will bring the school plenty of compensation of this deal.
Was this a major change for Notre Dame
Hate to see corporate garbage enter college football but that’s the world we live in now. Whether you like it or not there’s nothing we can do about it. Don’t have to like it (which I don’t) but have to move on only 40 days until NDFB returns! ☘️ https://t.co/UBx3EC258M
— Bruce Straughan (@bruce_straughan) July 28, 2026
Not everyone was going to like this move, as Bruce isn’t too big of a fan. It is a sign of the times that Notre Dame would ever consider a deal like this, but here we are. It’s something that we’ll have to get used to as the season is almost upon us.
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This article originally appeared on Fighting Irish Wire: Social media reacts to Notre Dame’s history jersey patch announcement
