AROUND NIL | NCAA OKs jersey patches, opening new way to fund athlete revenue share

NCAA opens jersey patch era, giving schools a new way to fund athlete revenue share

Jan. 30, 2026—The NCAA Division I cabinet has signed off on a rule that will let schools add commercial sponsor patches to uniforms for the first time beginning Aug. 1, 2026.

Schools can add up to two logos, each no larger than four square inches, on uniforms during regular-season and conference championship games, plus one on equipment such as helmets.

The move opens a new revenue stream as athletic departments look to fund the $20.5 million they're now allowed to share directly with athletes under the House settlement. It’s estimated that college football and basketball teams could earn between $500,000 and $12 million annually from patch deals. Some NBA teams already make eight figures from similar sponsorships.

Not everyone is thrilled. Critics warn college sports are drifting toward “NASCAR-ification,” with uniforms turning into rolling billboards.

LSU, which signed a multimillion-dollar deal last October, has already said its patches will appear “on all of our uniforms, every sport,” deputy athletic director and chief revenue officer Clay Harris told Front Office Sports, a setup that could funnel new money to non-revenue programs like golf.

Washington state lawmakers have proposed a 9.9% income tax on earnings over $1 million starting Jan. 1, 2029, and the bill explicitly includes college athletes with NIL income in the state.

Golf NIL College Men’s Top 75 golfer Matthew Dodd-Berry competes in the 2024 Open Championship at Royal Troon, with LSU’s new multimillion-dollar patch deal now set to fund uniforms across all sports, including golf | Steven Flynn/Action Sports Plus

Proposed income tax could cost Washington schools in battle for star recruits

Feb. 2, 2026—Washington state lawmakers introduced a 9.9% income tax on earnings over $1 million that would take effect Jan. 1, 2029, and Senate Bill 6346 explicitly includes college athletes with NIL income in the state.

The measure says nonresident athletes owe tax if their NIL-related “publicity service” primarily occurs in Washington, pulling in both in-state players and visitors who earn appearance or endorsement money there.

The change would erase a long-standing recruiting edge. Washington has been able to pitch its no-income-tax status while rivals in California (13.3% top rate), Oregon (9.9%), and other income-tax states have not. The case shows how state tax policy has quietly become one of college sports’ strongest recruiting tools, a six-figure edge programs in Florida, Texas, Tennessee, and Nevada have leaned on for years.

Washington Huskies quarterback Demond Williams Jr., reportedly on a $4-5 million NIL deal to return for 2026, shows how the math would look for a future star in his position. Under the proposal, Williams would owe 9.9% on income earned in Washington above $1 million—roughly $297,000 to $396,000 a year in additional tax. Without the tax, that money stays in his pocket.