College Co-Brands

Over the past few years, collegiate licensing programs have upped their co-branding and cross-licensing activities, creating initiatives that combine their own marks with outside properties of various types:

• Local pro teams. Licensee Champion forged a deal for apparel that blends the IP of the Texas Tech University Red Raiders with that of Major League Baseball’s Texas Rangers or Houston Astros, giving sports fans in Texas something new to add to their closets.
• Pro athlete alumni. Due to NCAA rules, colleges cannot use the names, numbers, or likenesses of current players, but they can add a dose of celebrity by partnering with pro athletes who were previously sports stars at their institutions. The largest such initiative involves the NFL Players Association, which unites athletes from its roster of current pros (including newly drafted recent grads) with their former schools. Merchandise ranges from Fanatics’ jerseys to Oyo collectible figures. In a separate example, the University of California offers a co-branded apparel line with its former standout running back, retired Seattle Seahawk and Buffalo Bill Marshawn Lynch. The goods are produced by Lynch’s company, BeastMode.
• Non-athlete alumni. Some institutions are appealing to constituents who may not be sports fans, as well as expanding their appeal beyond their local geographic area, by collaborating with former students who have gained fame outside of sports. Georgia Southern and Appalachian State offered co-branded apparel with country singers Cole Swindell and Eric Church, respectively, for instance. Learfield Licensing represents both schools.
• Lifestyle labels. Life is Good partnered with the University of Notre Dame for a line of co-branded shirts and fleece in fall 2015 and added 13 more schools to the program last year. In 2017 it is expanding into hard goods with the launch of merchandise created through cross-licensing agreements with WinCraft and Tervis.
• Characters. Colleges have followed in the footsteps of the pro leagues by pairing with character properties over the years; Plushland, for example, merged its collegiate licenses with Hello Kitty a few years back, creating a line of Hello Kitty soft toys wearing collegiate-logo clothing.
• Other colleges. Families with students or alumni of multiple universities can turn to e-commerce sites such as Fanatics and College Flags & Banners to create custom banners, license plates, and more highlighting two different colleges—including regional rivals—on a single item, under the House Divided brand. House Divided products are available for pro sports teams as well.

Like cross-licensing and co-branding programs involving other types of properties, these initiatives help the collegiate licensors freshen their product arrays, take advantage of the associated promotional opportunities, and/or expand their customer base.

Raugust Communications’ monthly e-newsletter arrives in subscribers’ email boxes next Tuesday, February 21. The Licensing Trend of the Month will focus on experiential licensing. Subscribe to the free publication here, and read past Licensing Trends of the Month here.