We’re headed in the direction of schools having to pay football players directly. Will that mean a cut back on spending from athletic departments? Maybe no more $100,000 barber shops in the football facility? Or, maybe personalized lockers that cost just $1,000 to make instead of $12,000? Nope, it’s time to find new revenue streams and now our glorious college football leaders are exploring adding sponsorship patches to football jerseys.
It makes sense, I suppose. The MLB, NBA, and NHL all allow jersey sponsors these days and college sports want to act like these leagues in most respects. And while the NFL hasn’t made the jump yet and probably won’t any time soon (the league has so much money it doesn’t know what to do with it all and they are more conscientious of marketing with their jabillion dollar TV deals) they do sell lucrative practice jersey sponsorship. Recent estimates suggest opening up game jersey real estate could bring in the NFL over $700 million per season, or nearly $22 million per team.
So, you can see why the major college football teams would be interested in signing up for a potentially massive new revenue stream. In the event Notre Dame decides to walk down this path we have the best options to fit the school’s needs and branding.
Guinness
This is the sensible choice. Notre Dame already partners with the Dublin brewery and the transition to a jersey sponsorship would be seamless. Their logo also works well with the Fighting Irish branding and colors. Will the NCAA allow an alcoholic beverage to be on the jerseys, though? Oh, the NCAA has no power anymore.
Projected Sponsorship Deal: 5 years, $174 million
Be honest, this is the least reprehensible option and good money to boot.
Irish Spring
If a beer company is too much for some allow me to offer a more gentle deal from a soap company. But not just any soap company, we’re talking about Irish Spring. If Notre Dame fans occasionally have a potty mouth, then this jersey sponsorship is reassurance that the fan base is rocking up to stadiums nation-wide smelling terrific.
Projected Sponsorship Deal: 3 years, $48 million
They even re-worked their logo recently to fit in with Notre Dame’s branding!
RPM Steak
Do you hate home night games? Do you think all home games should kickoff at 12:05 PM on the dot? Do you enjoy the finer things in life and believe there’s more to complaining about Irish football and discussing these things are important at the finest establishments that Chicago has to offer? Let me convince you of RPM Steak on the jerseys.
Projected Sponsorship Deal: 1 year, $9 million
The deal includes one free bottle of Pinot Noir Three Kings to the first 20 group alumni only dinner reservations. The sponsorship is only for 1 year as this is the restaurant industry after all we’re not sure about the finances of partial owners Bill & Giuliana Rancic.
Peacock
I’m being dead serious when I say this is a legitimate option. Notre Dame just hired its new athletic director directly from NBC and showed its hand on the importance of working with the network and continuing the development of the streaming service Peacock.
Projected Sponsorship Deal: 20 years, $40 million
Notre Dame rushes to sign this deal, among the first in the nation to be agreed upon, and touts it as the largest jersey sponsorship in terms of total money. It’s quickly eclipsed by deals from 57 other football programs.
Lucky Charms
Good old fashioned Midwestern roots with General Mills. Supporting kids to eat a healthy breakfast. Okay, maybe healthy isn’t the right word but eating something in the morning is important for kids. It can be magically delicious.
Courtesy of @CollegeSportsO in this fun thread HERE.
Projected Sponsorship Deal: 7 years, $90 million
The General Mills stock is up, let’s strike while the iron is hot.
Aer Lingus
We could see an Anthony Travel sponsorship bid, but they also sponsor dozens of other NCAA schools already. In order to save money on future trips to the Dublin, Ireland season openers that are inevitably coming we found a solid deal from Aer Lingus.
Projected Sponsorship Deal: 6 years, $135 million
Money in the airplane industry isn’t real anyway, we might as well take as much as we can in the deal.
Gurley Leep
BEEP! BEEP! GURLEY LEEP.
Projected Sponsorship Deal: 3 years, $12 million
We’ve added a sponsor patch to the practice jerseys and worked on a new NIL deal with the local Gurley Leep car dealership in Mishawaka.
Linebacker Lounge
The push to stay local with a jersey sponsorship might be overwhelming. We’re staying extremely local and just down the street from Notre Dame Stadium.
Projected Sponsorship Deal: Undetermined, rumored to include unspecified amounts of Coors Light.
The Papacy
They said it couldn’t be done. There would be no interest. You never know.
Projected Sponsorship Deal: 10 years, $1.7 billion
As part of the 10 year plan to bring a National Championship back to South Bend. Pope Francis swoops in and declares himself as a key proponent of this new player power era.
Give me the Martin’s font
Club 23
As best I can tell, there are no — as in zero — photographs of the interior of Club 23 on the internet, anywhere.
God bless that place.
To those who can’t picture it: it had carpeted floors and occasionally they’d open up the unfinished basement to drink in.
wow, what era was that? i never even knew they had a basement…but i also dont think i went there after the mid 90s
It was definitely in the mid-late 2000s. One of my favorites.
I think it was torn down around 2011-2012.
It was too pure for the gentrification of Eddy Street.
Would you like a $13 Guinness or a $1 gallon of Long Island? I know my answer.
Circa 2001-04 our college bar had a beat to hell wooden floor where people smoked and put the butts out on the floor. How this place didn’t burn to the ground I do not know.
Was smoking in this Club 23 basement allowed?
This seems like it was 100 years ago with how much society has changed re smoking cigs.
Pretty sure smoking was allowed in the entire place and honestly encouraged.
Smoking was mandatory.
You know you made it when the owner was forcing you to drink Lebanese arak and chain smoke cigs.
If it was like any college bar I’ve ever been in, the floor would have been far too moist to catch a spark.
Why not support local business and go with Golden Dragon or King Gyros?
Port A Pit!
Also, RPM is a little au courant for the Dinner In Chicago (TM) crowd. Stick with the reliable classics like Gibson’s and Lawry’s The Prime Rib. If big silver domes and tableside salad were good enough for Lou, they’re good enough for you.
Ahhh see, this is why a 1-year deal is a good idea.
Well done. Literal lol on the Papacy (maybe it’s extra funny because I’m reading Dominion by Tom Holland, and the Papacy has done shadier stuff in the last 2000 years).
But I gotta go with Lucky Charms here.
Wait, is that Tommy Rees, he of alcohol related charges, wearing a patch from a bar? Very well done, I shall renew my premium subscription just for that inside joke.
Tommy was exclusively during Adidas’ reign, don’t think he ever wore a UA jersey. The QB in the Linebacker photo is #18 Steve Angeli from the Sun Bowl
Good call, that’s not Tommy’s 11
Also not his face
Don’t forget ads on the field now too! I’m envisioning The Observer printing a new Viewpoint column from an alum each week that covers the entire field.
Can someone pay for the GOAT Viewpoint “Rethinking Football”?
https://www.ndsmcobserver.com/article/2013/10/rethinking-football
I zoomed in and TIL about the papal insignia. Neat! So many pope-y symbol choices. Several official ornate crucifixes, crossed keys, Papal coat of arms. Chi Ro Labarum. Pope hat. Popemobile. I’m pretty deep down this internet rabbit hole of papal symbols and I recommend it.