The NCAA only cleared the way for commercial patches on uniforms starting August 1, and Ohio State didn't wait around to cash in. The Buckeyes just landed a corporate partnership with JPMorgan Chase that dwarfs anything else announced so far in this brand-new market, and it's not close.
Pete Thamel broke the news of the JPMorgan Chase partnership and its jaw-dropping annual value.
Thamel put the number at nearly $17 million per year across all 36 OSU varsity programs, calling it an industry leader. Pete Nakos followed with his own reporting pegging the deal at over $15 million annually, still describing it as the largest jersey patch agreement to date. Either figure blows the doors off the field: LSU's Woodside Energy deal and UNLV's $11 million Access Biologics patch had been the benchmarks, and Ohio State just lapped them both.
Nakos confirmed the deal's record scope and its NIL component for OSU athletes.
Ohio State's deal with JPMorgan Chase includes NIL opportunities and is believed to be the largest jersey patch deal to date worth over $15 million annually.
This isn't just a logo on a jersey, either. Both reporters flagged that the agreement includes NIL opportunities for Ohio State athletes, meaning Chase isn't just buying real estate on a uniform, it's buying into the athlete-facing side of the business too. That's the piece that separates this from a standard sponsorship buy and pushes it into the same territory as major non-apparel corporate deals across pro sports.
Thamel noted the deal's value even tops some NBA jersey patch agreements.
The value is higher than some NBA jersey patch deals. OSU’s deal also includes NIL opportunities for athletes. It’s believed to be one of the biggest non-apparel corporate deals in college sports.
The comparison to the NBA is the real headline here. Jersey patches have been normal in the NBA since 2017, and even there, Chase's OSU number reportedly outpaces some of those pro deals. For a college athletic department, that's an absurd leap in just one offseason of a rule change. It also signals where Ohio State's financial literacy programming for athletes and its new 1922 Club at the Horseshoe fit into the bigger picture: Chase isn't just slapping a logo on, it's embedding itself across the department.
Every school with a jersey patch deal right now is watching this number. Ohio State just set the ceiling before most programs even hung their first patch, and that changes the math for every athletic director shopping a deal this fall.