Year in and year out, college football fans’ biggest complaint is the number of advertisements during game broadcasts.
According to NCAA statistics, the average college football game in 2023 lasted 3 hours and 22 minutes, about 10 minutes longer than the average NFL game that year. Keep in mind that this was before college football introduced the 2-minute timeout, which will likely result in games becoming even longer this year.
Most of that additional time is thanks to… you guessed it, commercials.
And if you didn’t think there were already enough ads during the TV timeouts, then you’re in luck.
According to a report by Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports, college football power brokers are considering adding jersey patches to the uniforms that feature corporate sponsorships. Currently, the NCAA outlaws this practice, but Learfield, the collegiate sports marketing giant, is spearheading an effort to change that.
“We’ve been at stagnation with arguably one of the most valuable aspects of college athletics — jersey patches,” Cole Gahagan, president and CEO of Learfield, told Yahoo Sports. “There is seemingly little to nothing anyone can do to actually get it moving. Activity has to start somewhere. We’ve got a responsibility to kick off that activity.”
Conference commissioners, including the Big 12’s Brett Yormark, seem to be in favor. “Any conversation that involves value creation for our members needs to be on the table, and we need to be thoughtful about it,” the commissioner said. “These are opportunities to create value.”
In a new era of college athletics, where schools must generate revenue to compensate players, value creation is as important as ever.
For fans, that’s likely to mean more ads wherever they can fit them in. And while jersey sponsors won’t drive viewers away as much as a heavier commercial load, they continue a trend of commercialization in the sport that takes away some of its charm.
But as athletic departments scramble to pay for the best teams, jersey patches can help pay the bill.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.