{"id":65827,"date":"2024-08-14T16:44:58","date_gmt":"2024-08-14T21:44:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/?p=65827"},"modified":"2024-08-14T16:44:58","modified_gmt":"2024-08-14T21:44:58","slug":"naia-program-grace-college-first-to-land-uniform-sponsorship-partnership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/naia-program-grace-college-first-to-land-uniform-sponsorship-partnership\/","title":{"rendered":"NAIA program Grace College first to land uniform sponsorship partnership"},"content":{"rendered":"

Financial uncertainties in college athletics aren\u2019t just reserved for Power Four<\/strong> teams and top NCAA<\/strong> programs. NAIA<\/strong> schools \u2013 which operate<\/a> on \u201cmanageable budgets\u201d and spend on average $7,300 per student-athlete \u2013 are also feeling the budget crunch.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why it\u2019s worth taking note of Grace College\u2019s<\/a><\/strong> uniform sponsorship agreement<\/a> with biomed company Zimmer Biomet<\/a><\/strong>. For the next three years, a Zimmer Biomet logo patch will be featured on all of Grace College\u2019s athletic uniforms. This includes all of Grace\u2019s home, away and alternate uniforms.<\/p>\n

According to NAIA sources, Wednesday\u2019s announcement marks the first publicly announced uniform sponsorship deal for any college in the United States. The NAIA, which was also the first athletic organization to pass<\/a> NIL<\/a> legislation in 2020, voted in April to allow sponsor logos on uniforms during competitions.<\/p>\n

The NAIA is made up<\/a> of 250 small colleges and universities across the country. The full financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed but a source told On3 said it was safe to call the partnership \u201chistoric for an NAIA school.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are thrilled and grateful to announce this partnership between Grace and Zimmer Biomet,\u201d Grace College president Dr. Drew Flamm <\/strong>said in a release. \u201cAs far as we know this marks the first uniform sponsorship deal for any college in the United States. Zimmer Biomet has been an innovative and inspiring organization in our community. And we are thankful they have chosen to invest in our student-athlete experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Local company steps up to support NAIA program<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Much like the recently announced<\/a> Tennessee<\/a><\/strong> sponsorship deal with Pilot<\/strong>, the Grace and Zimmer Biomet agreement features a business giant stepping up to support a local athletic department.<\/p>\n

Grace College is located in Winona Lake, Indiana, less than 10 minutes from Zimmer Biomet\u2019s headquarters in Warsaw. Zimmer Biomet generated over $7.3 billion last year and has been consistently recognized as a Fortune 500<\/strong> company.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis partnership just makes sense for us,\u201d Zimmer Biomet\u2019s president Jim Lancaster<\/strong> said. \u201cWe want to support our community. We know some of our best team members historically have been former Grace College athletes. And we hope many more of these excellent student-athletes stay and make a difference in our community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grace College has 19 varsity sports, and the Lancers have won 18 national titles since 2019. In 2023, Grace earned a top-25 finish in the NAIA Learfield Directors\u2019 Cup<\/strong>, which measures a team\u2019s success across all sports. The Lancers were 31st in the 2024 final standings<\/a>. Additionally, the Lancers women\u2019s basketball program won the 2024 NCCAA<\/strong> national championship. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe are grateful for our partnership in the community with Zimmer Biomet,\u201d Grace athletic director Chad Briscoe<\/strong> said. \u201cThe innovative thinking by the NAIA continues to allow member institutions to create new revenue streams that will enhance the student-athlete experience. Zimmer Biomet has always been a great partner in our community, and they have been very supportive of Grace College. We look forward to growing this athletic partnership for years to come at Grace.\u201d<\/p>\n

Are Jersey patches coming to NCAA?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The NCAA only just permitted on-field sponsorships, however, the expectation is jersey patches are not far off from being approved<\/a> in the next couple of seasons. The patches are a more lucrative property than on-field sponsorships, sources told On3.<\/p>\n

The Premier League<\/strong>, MLB<\/strong>, NBA<\/a><\/strong> and NHL<\/strong> all use jersey patches, while the NFL<\/a><\/strong> has held out. A 2023 report from Turnstile<\/strong> estimated NFL franchises could earn $21.1 million annually from jersey patches. <\/p>\n

Additionally, Elevate\u2019s Insight Division<\/a> <\/strong>reports the top patch valuation for college football would be $6 million. The consulting firm also indicates top college basketball teams could generate $2 million from a jersey patch.<\/p>\n

The post NAIA program Grace College first to land uniform sponsorship partnership<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Financial uncertainties in college athletics aren\u2019t just reserved for Power Four teams and top NCAA…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-65827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65827","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65827"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65827\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65874,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65827\/revisions\/65874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}