Big Ten school becomes first to strike deal for players to profit off jersey sales
By Keith Farner
Published:
Of all the deals that have been struck since July 1 around name, image and likeness, college athletes haven’t yet rung the register on jersey sales. Now Michigan is reportedly the first to do so.
The M Den, the University of Michigan officially licensed retailer who is one of the biggest licensed collegiate stores in the nation, announced that it was offering fans the rights to get players’ names on the back of their Michigan football jerseys.
The deal is not with the school. It is with The M Den.
“The University of Michigan is not a party to this agreement,” Michigan associate athletic director Dave Ablauf told The Action Network.
The report from The Action Network said that 50 players on this year’s roster have signed deals and are available for order. Each jersey has to be personalized in a custom manner by either an online or in store order, meaning there won’t be jerseys of a particular player hanging on the rack. These jerseys will cost $120 for names and numbers to be ironed on and $180 for them to be sewn.
In the past, it was speculated that if this ever happened, players would get at best 6% of the wholesale cost of the jersey. In this case, it would be $3.60 or $5.40 based on wholesale costs of $60 and $90. But M Den owner Scott Hirth said The M Den wanted to do better.
The exact percentage is unknown, but each player is expected to get the same percentage multiplied by how many of their jerseys they sell. Each jersey will exceed $10.
“We wanted to do the best that we could for these players,” Hirth said. “Yes, we are a for profit business, but we are partners with the school.”
Hirth added that the players likely will make more money per jersey than The M Den will.
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For first time ever, get a customized officially licensed @UMichFootball jersey with the name and number of current student-athletes!SHOP NOW▶️ https://t.co/krrZOexK5W #GoBlue | #MDen pic.twitter.com/eAHHQohFjX
— The M Den (@TheMDen) July 16, 2021
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
