Ripple has signed a historic five-year sponsorship deal with the University of Kansas Athletics, making XRP the first cryptocurrency to be featured on the jerseys of a major NCAA Division I program. The agreement, driven by Ripple's CEO and KU alumnus Brad Garlinghouse, also includes funding for financial and technology education for student-athletes. The deal comes after Ripple recently resolved a major lawsuit with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
University of Kansas sponsorship deal
- ▪The agreement is considered one of the most lucrative patch-placement deals in U.S. college sports history
- ▪The NCAA ruled in January that Division I teams could begin placing corporate logos on their jerseys in August
- ▪The XRP logo will appear on the jerseys of all Kansas Jayhawks athletic teams starting in fall 2026
- ▪This marks the first time a cryptocurrency brand will be on the uniforms of a major NCAA Division I athletics program
- ▪The University of Kansas's engineering school already operates an official XRP Ledger validator
- ▪Ripple and the University of Kansas Athletics signed a five-year sponsorship agreement
- ▪The deal makes XRP the official cryptocurrency of Kansas Athletics
- ▪Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse is an alumnus of the University of Kansas and a native of Topeka, Kansas
Educational programs for student-athletes
- ▪As part of the deal, Ripple will fund educational programs for student-athletes on finance and technology
- ▪The educational programs will cover both traditional banking and digital assets
- ▪Ripple also aims to connect University of Kansas graduates with careers in the technology industry
Crypto sports sponsorship history
- ▪The collapsed crypto exchange FTX previously held naming rights for the Miami Heat's NBA stadium
- ▪Ripple was ordered to pay about $125 million to resolve the SEC case, with appeals dismissed in August of the prior year
- ▪In 2020, the U.S. SEC accused Ripple of raising $1.3 billion by selling XRP as an unregistered security
- ▪The collapsed crypto network Terra signed a five-year sponsorship deal with the MLB's Washington Nationals in 2022
XRP market performance
- ▪The price of XRP fell by about 4.2% on the day the sponsorship deal was announced
- ▪Following the announcement, XRP futures open interest increased by 1%
- ▪XRP is the fourth-largest non-stablecoin cryptocurrency, with a market cap of approximately $67.5 billion
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