{
  "id": 145284,
  "title": "Colleges Are Avoiding Transparency on Jersey Patch Deals",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/04/colleges-are-avoiding-transparency-on-jersey-patch-deals",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-08-04T19:01:50.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Front Office Sports",
    "slug": "front-office-sports",
    "url": "https://frontofficesports.com/colleges-are-avoiding-transparency-on-jersey-patch-deals/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Recent NCAA rule changes have led colleges to pursue lucrative jersey patch sponsorships, with some deals reportedly bringing in tens of millions of dollars. However, universities are withholding the specifics of these deals due to a recent practice of involving multimedia rightsholders (MMR partners) in the agreements. This move reduces transparency surrounding the multimillion-dollar deals that public universities strike with sponsors and other companies.\n\nWhen Front Office Sports made public records requests to Ohio State and Kansas for the details of their respective jersey patch contracts with JPMorganChase and Ripple (both brokered by MMR partner Learfield), the universities denied possessing responsive records. Ohio State's spokesperson stated that the agreement is between Chase Bank and Learfield, implying that Ohio State had no role in the deal. Kansas also denied the request, stating it had determined it possessed no records responsive to the inquiry.\n\nSam Ehrlich, a Boise State law professor and college sports litigation expert, commented that this practice may violate the spirit—or the letter—of open records laws. By involving MMR partners, universities could be diverting their deals through them, potentially shielding valuable information about athletic department sponsorships and other agreements. As more universities adopt this structure, Ehrlich predicts that a significant amount of public university records could be hidden due to this arrangement.",
  "summary": "Ohio State said the jersey patch deal was made between Learfield and Chase.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}