UCF Football Partners with Fanatics and OneTeam for Specialty Jersey Licensing Deal that Pays Players

Just as fans buy jerseys for our favorite professional athletes, fans will shortly be able to purchase jerseys that feature our favorite student-athletes.

On February 3rd, Fanatics announced it would join OneTeam Partners to secure group rights for college athletes in a nationwide jersey program. The partnership will allow jerseys with the names and numbers of college athletes to be purchased by fans. Fanatics also plans to expand the program into other menโ€™s and womenโ€™s sports in the future. Shortly after the announcement, UCF announced that it would be one of the limited schools offering it to its fans.

Imagine if this was possible for past student-athletes like Tim Tebow or Carmelo Anthony. Back in 2004, one year after winning the national title at Syracuse, Carmelo Anthony told Darren Rovell of The Action Network: โ€œI always thought college players should get paid for jersey sales, I would have been rich.โ€ In today's NIL landscape, current and future student-athletes will be allowed to profit from these sales.

With the AAC buyout looming, UCF realized a way they can offer unique merchandise to fans and created another source of revenue that will only help them during their transition to the Big 12. This is not the first time UCF has helped its student-athletes capitalize off their NIL.ย 

At the spring game last year, instead of having their last names on their jerseys, the Knights featured their social media handles so that when fans watched them, they could follow their social media accounts. When speaking about the jerseys at the spring game, UCF Head Football Coach Gus Malzahn said, โ€œThis is the new age of personal branding and weโ€™re going to embrace it, within the NCAA rules. Thatโ€™s who we are and thatโ€™s who weโ€™re going to beโ€ฆโ€

The Knights have embraced it, and it will be interesting to see which players are among the top jersey sellers this season. Fans will be able to purchase jerseys in August 2022, right before next yearโ€™s college football season starts.

More coverage: Facebook, YouTube, The Daily Knight podcast, Instagram, and Twitter - @fbscout_florida and @UCF_FanNation, Like and Subscribe!

Recent Articles From Inside The Knights

New Prospects Emerge, Day One DRSportz Tournament

2023 Florida Prospect UCF Should Recruit: Tyree Patterson

Johnson and Leonard Provide Scouting Evaluations from the DRSportz Davenport Tournament

Looking at Baylor and Oklahoma State Recruiting, What UCF Faces Entering the Big XII

Leyton Nelson Switches Decision, Signs with Vanderbilt Over UCF

Will Knights Add to 2022 Recruiting Class? Recruiting Notes and Podcast

2023 Prospect Profile: Wide Receiver Cayden Lee

Harbaugh Interviewing on National Signing Day? Shameful, but Not Surprising

UCF National Signing Day Primer: What Happens Next?

2023 Recruiting Profile: Wide Receiver Robby Washington

Photos and Videos of Top Players and Recruits from Pylon Orlando

Quan Lee Inks Third NIL Deal, Ca$hing in on Hard Work

Updated UCF Recruiting News

UCF Recruiting: National Signing Day, Transfer Portal & Hometown Hero News

2023 UCF Recruit Profile: Defensive End Kaven Call

For the Class of 2023, the Top 20 Skill Position Recruits in Florida Are?

Cocoa High School Quarterback Davin Wydner Talks Recruitment, UCF Visit

Tracking Recent UCF Football Scholarship Offers

UCFโ€™s Chance to Capitalize on Recruiting is Now!


Published
Marc Miceli
MARC MICELI