Ripple Secures Historic Multi-Year Sponsorship Deal with University of Kansas Athletics

Jul 8, 2026

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.