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Texas Approves $100M Licensing Deal

Cairn Horn88

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Cairn Horn88

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University of Texas regents on Monday approved a new Longhorns product licensing management agreement in a long-term deal worth an estimated $100 million for the school.

The contract with Collegiate Licensing Co. re-partners Texas with the company that helped the school and Longhorns logo become a licensing juggernaut starting in the late 1990s, and boost its athletic department into one of the wealthiest in the country.

Texas had allowed its previous contract with Collegiate Licensing to expire in 2016 in part to save costs and move some of its licensing efforts in-house. The new deal makes the company the school's exclusive licensing agent when authorizing the Texas name, logos and trademarks on commercial products, ranging on anything from clothing to coffee cups to computer mouse pads.  This agreement runs through June 2032.

 

https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/texas-news/texas-approves-licensing-deal-worth-nearly-100-million/2270890/

Are we still gonna have "We Are Texas" gear?  SIAP.

 

 

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Cairn Horn88

Cairn Horn88 8500

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Per AAS: Brian Davis

Texas athletics is going back to a previous partner for a 12-year deal worth $96 million to have the Longhorns’ logo stamped on shirts, hats, coffee mugs and mouse pads.

The UT System Board of Regents approved a new contract Monday with Collegiate Licensing Co. that runs through June 2032 and is worth $8 million annually.

CLC started managing UT’s brand in the late 1990s and helped the Horns become the nation’s No. 1-selling logo as Mack Brown’s team cruised through the 2000s. It is owned by Learfield IMG College, a far-reaching company that manages everything from collegiate ticket sales, radio distribution and advertising deals. 

 

Former athletic director Steve Patterson announced in March 2015 that the school was turning away from CLC for 289c Apparel, a company that has a UT system-wide deal. “It will represent a tremendous cost-savings,” Patterson said at the time. UT’s partnership with CLC lapsed in 2016.

Still, fans kept on buying just about anything with UT’s trademarked logo. Texas football took in $32 million in royalties, licensing and sponsorships during the 2017-18 athletic year, according to the most recent audited data. Overall, UT athletics generated $47.2 million during that year.

Drew Martin, UT’s director of external operations, said the “landscape has changed.”

“Particularly with data management and retail consumer insights CLC has developed that will help us more effectively manage the Texas brand strategically by product, category and retailer,” Martin said.

Most fans won’t notice a difference. But Texas will have the ability to change with consumer tastes faster.

Martin said the department can “broaden our apparel and headwear selections to retailers in an effort to offer a wider selection of product to our fan base.”

Texas has long been protective of its brand. Not just anything gets approved by UT officials.

“We won’t throw the doors wide open like an all-comers meet,” Martin said, “but we will take a holistic look at where we are, listen to what retailers are hearing from our fans, and look at the data to determine national trends in licensed product in order to give our fans the best products available.”

 
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TwiceHorn

TwiceHorn 31991

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This is kind of confusing.  CLC apparently was, and now is again, the "licensing agent" or "master licensor" for the UT brands/trademarks.  That means they grant rights to companies like Nike, Jerrah's apparel outfit 289c, and others to make/sell UT branded stuff.

I was under the impression that 289c was also our licensing agent, and, accordingly, granted the bulk of the apparel licenses to essentially itself.

This maybe undoes the licensing agent part of that.  289c's website, though, still features UT stuff and in the about section said they were the "master licensor" until 2025 for "retail."  http://www.289capparel.com/about-289c/our-story/

I thought at one time looking into this, 289c held itself out to be more of a licensing company than an apparel company.  But, if you check the link above, it seems more apparel-y now.  Maybe 289c has gone out of the pure licensing business.

In any event, a total Patterson pro-sports move.

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TwiceHorn

TwiceHorn 31991

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17 minutes ago, Cairn Horn88 said:

Per AAS: Brian Davis

Texas athletics is going back to a previous partner for a 12-year deal worth $96 million to have the Longhorns’ logo stamped on shirts, hats, coffee mugs and mouse pads.

The UT System Board of Regents approved a new contract Monday with Collegiate Licensing Co. that runs through June 2032 and is worth $8 million annually.

CLC started managing UT’s brand in the late 1990s and helped the Horns become the nation’s No. 1-selling logo as Mack Brown’s team cruised through the 2000s. It is owned by Learfield IMG College, a far-reaching company that manages everything from collegiate ticket sales, radio distribution and advertising deals. 

 

Former athletic director Steve Patterson announced in March 2015 that the school was turning away from CLC for 289c Apparel, a company that has a UT system-wide deal. “It will represent a tremendous cost-savings,” Patterson said at the time. UT’s partnership with CLC lapsed in 2016.

Still, fans kept on buying just about anything with UT’s trademarked logo. Texas football took in $32 million in royalties, licensing and sponsorships during the 2017-18 athletic year, according to the most recent audited data. Overall, UT athletics generated $47.2 million during that year.

Drew Martin, UT’s director of external operations, said the “landscape has changed.”

“Particularly with data management and retail consumer insights CLC has developed that will help us more effectively manage the Texas brand strategically by product, category and retailer,” Martin said.

Most fans won’t notice a difference. But Texas will have the ability to change with consumer tastes faster.

Martin said the department can “broaden our apparel and headwear selections to retailers in an effort to offer a wider selection of product to our fan base.”

Texas has long been protective of its brand. Not just anything gets approved by UT officials.

“We won’t throw the doors wide open like an all-comers meet,” Martin said, “but we will take a holistic look at where we are, listen to what retailers are hearing from our fans, and look at the data to determine national trends in licensed product in order to give our fans the best products available.”

 

As I noted above, 289c touts a 10 year deal, so it looks like someone got fired/terminated for cause.

From the bolded, it seems like the rather limited and shitty selection of apparel and headwear may have been cause for the change.  

Ok, this texassports.com article confirms that it was a 10 year deal with 289c.  So that has definitely been terminated one way or another.  https://texassports.com/news/2015/3/19/GEN_0319155024.aspx

One wrinkle is that Learfield was part of the 289c deal, whereas Learfield is now actually owned by CLC, or vice versa.

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texifornia

texifornia 58789

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4 minutes ago, SwanderedTalent said:

if we were winning, I'd be pretty smug about this

right now all I see is more money for an athletic department that can't win shit

We're going to get much better branded apparel. This is actually good for the fans.

The AD is being run by competent people again.

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SwanderedTalent

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13 minutes ago, texifornia said:

We're going to get much better branded apparel. This is actually good for the fans.

The AD is being run by competent people again.

I'm 100% to the cynical side of things right now. I like CDC, I'm not saying I wish this story hadn't happened or is a bad thing. I'll just see it as something that benefits me as a fan when we start winning something. 

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closetojumping

closetojumping 65255

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13 minutes ago, SwanderedTalent said:

if we were winning, I'd be pretty smug about this

right now all I see is more money for an athletic department that can't win shit

I get it, but I can still be pretty smug about this. The Texas brand continues to be a fucking juggernaut, and a proof point is the fact that our teams suck fucking horribly across all major sports and we still move a fuckton of merchandise. Do I get any of that money? No. Does Tom Herman? Yes. Does that make me want to punch myself in the face until I pass out? Yes. So I'll take the smugness with the paralyzing disappointment because, yeah, fuck it, makes it all easier to swallow.

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closetojumping

closetojumping 65255

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I was just doing some searching and it still shocks me to read that Texas tops the merchandise sales numbers at this stage, surpassing Bama. We've sucked in all sports for a long ass time. It's a powerful fucking brand.

When I travel outside of the US, I see Yankees, Lakers, Cowboys and Longhorn gear and notice it. You'll see people in that gear frequently. I'm also surprised when I see another brand from the US, especially at the college level. It's usually Notre Dame, Michigan, or Ohio State. I'm assuming most of the mouthbreathers from the SEC footprint lack the disposable income and personal ambition to put towards travel outside of their home zip code, which would be why I never see any of their logos. Although, I did see a chick wearing an ATM shirt standing outside of the Notre Dame Cathedral, in ruins, this summer. She was wearing high top tennis shoes, cutoff shorts, an ATM shirt, and eating a hot dog in the middle of Paris. Of course.

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MrPhlegm

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I was just doing some searching and it still shocks me to read that Texas tops the merchandise sales numbers at this stage, surpassing Bama. We've sucked in all sports for a long ass time. It's a powerful fucking brand.
When I travel outside of the US, I see Yankees, Lakers, Cowboys and Longhorn gear and notice it. You'll see people in that gear frequently. I'm also surprised when I see another brand from the US, especially at the college level. It's usually Notre Dame, Michigan, or Ohio State. I'm assuming most of the mouthbreathers from the SEC footprint lack the disposable income and personal ambition to put towards travel outside of their home zip code, which would be why I never see any of their logos. Although, I did see a chick wearing an ATM shirt standing outside of the Notre Dame Cathedral, in ruins, this summer. She was wearing high top tennis shoes, cutoff shorts, an ATM shirt, and eating a hot dog in the middle of Paris. Of course.
so aggy burned notre dame? figures
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MrPhlegm

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The craze was just before I moved to Texas, but tell me one of y'all still rocks a Longhorn Starter™  jacket each holiday season?  

I've got one of those. it is over 25 years old. got it at the starter outlet in Hillsborough. wasn't looking for texas gear just stretching our legs and taking a leak on the way to dallas. wandered in and there it was. the color was honest to god burnt orange. which was a shock as all the rest of the starter Texas gear I had seen was that hideous tenn orange. it was the right size and 20 bucks so I bought it.

b02806c5fb40eb23f1ae5efc5bd81a1d.jpgcf7420a41e71d87365f44bb61b0442a1.jpg

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GoldAppleCorps

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Realistically, this is just another unwinding of the Steve Patterson "Penny-wise, Pound Foolish" mess. He tried to save a buck by bringing a complicated, unwieldy process in-house rather than let a professional handle it. The University likely lost 100x the cost savings through missed opportunities or infringement.

The Longhorn brand is largely recession-proof. Just cash the checks and use the excess to hire coordinators!

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Guest Lobo

Guest Lobo

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What's the worst part?  That every picture is a San Francisco icon, 50 miles away from where the bowl game is being played (Sounds like something an Austin realtor would say, "Santa Clara, just minutes from downtown.")  or that they refer to the best public university in the nation as "Cal State", which is where I think the crew from 90210 ended up going to college.  Or that there's five giant dick shaped objects?  NTTAWT

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