Merchandise and Licensing in Football

By 4Football Staff · October 16, 2026 · 10 min read

How a team logo ends up on a jersey, a cap or a coffee mug: who owns the marks, who makes the product, how royalties work, and how to tell official gear from fakes.

Walk through a stadium parking lot on a game day and count the logos. Jerseys, hooded sweatshirts, knit caps, foam fingers, face paint kits, flags on car windows, seat cushions, blankets, bottle openers. Almost every piece of that gear carries a name, a color scheme or a logo that someone owns. Almost none of it was made by the team itself.

That gap, between the owner of a brand and the company that actually sews the shirt, is the heart of football merchandise. It runs on licensing, a system of permissions and payments that is older than most fans realize and that quietly shapes what you can buy, what it costs and where the money goes. This article explains how that system works at the professional, college and high school levels, how a single jersey moves from idea to store shelf, and what to look for when you want to be sure that what you are buying is the real thing.

Trademarks come first

Everything in football merchandise starts with trademark law. A team name, a logo, a wordmark, a distinctive color combination, a mascot design and sometimes even a particular helmet style can be registered or protected as a trademark. The owner of a trademark controls how it is used on products. If a company prints a team logo on a shirt without permission, that company is using someone else's brand, and the owner can demand that it stop.

That protection is what gives a logo value. A plain gray sweatshirt is worth very little. The same sweatshirt with a recognizable team logo can sell at a higher price, because buyers are paying for the connection to the team as well as for the fabric. Licensing is simply the legal method for letting other companies capture that value while the owner keeps control.

There are three ways an owner can handle the business:

Make and sell everything itself. This is rare, because it requires factories, design staff, warehouses and retail operations that the team would rather not run.
License the marks to others. A manufacturer receives permission to put the logo on specified products and pays the owner for that right.
Do a mix. The owner licenses most categories and handles a few itself, such as items sold only at its own stadium.

Most of the football world runs on the second and third approaches.

How a license works

A licensing agreement is a contract. It says which marks can be used, on what products, in what territory, for how long, and what the licensee must pay. Several terms appear in nearly every agreement:

Licensor: the owner of the marks, such as a league, team, school or players' union.
Licensee: the company that makes or sells the product.
Royalty: the payment from licensee to licensor, usually a percentage of the price at which the licensee sells to retailers, sometimes with a minimum guaranteed amount.
Category and territory: the type of product (apparel, headwear, toys, home goods, collectibles) and where it can be sold.
Quality control: the licensor's right to approve designs, materials and factories, so that the brand is not attached to shoddy goods.
Term: how long the permission lasts, after which it ends or is renewed.

A hypothetical example

Here is a simple, invented illustration. Imagine a company that makes team-branded blankets. It sells each blanket to a retailer for $20, and its contract says the royalty is 10 percent of that wholesale price. The licensor receives $2 for each blanket sold to the retailer. If the retailer then sells the blanket to a fan for $35, the licensor is not paid again on the difference. The actual rates, categories and structures in real contracts vary, and the numbers are negotiated in private, but the basic arithmetic works the same way: a slice of each sale flows back to the owner of the brand.

The professional level

The league as licensor

In the NFL, a league-level entity manages the trademarks of the league and of its member teams. Companies that want to put team logos on products generally deal with the league's licensing arm, which can offer a single agreement covering many teams. The teams have agreed to pool the rights so that fans, retailers and manufacturers have one place to negotiate. Product categories are carefully divided among licensees, and some of the biggest categories, such as the uniforms and sideline apparel, can be handled through exclusive or near-exclusive deals with a single manufacturer for a set number of years.

Pooled revenue

A well-known feature of NFL licensing is that the money has long been pooled and shared among the teams rather than kept by the team whose logo appears on the item. The reasoning is the same as in other revenue-sharing areas, explained in our article on NFL revenue sharing: the league wants smaller-market teams to remain competitive, and it does not want an arrangement in which one big-city team earns far more simply because more people live nearby. The details of the sharing formula are set by league agreements and can change, so look to current league information for specifics.

Player names and likenesses

A jersey with a player's name and number involves another set of rights. Players are individuals, and their names, images and likenesses belong to them. In professional football, the players' union handles group licensing on behalf of players who agree to participate, which is what allows a company to produce, for example, a jersey with a surname, a trading card or a video game that includes real players. Individual star players may also sign separate endorsement deals, covered by their own contracts and managed by their agents.

When you buy a jersey with a name and number on the back, part of the price therefore flows to several parties: the league's licensing system, the manufacturer, the retailer, and the players' licensing system. That layered structure is one of the reasons name-and-number jerseys cost more than blank ones.

Retail channels

Professional football merchandise reaches fans through several routes:

Online stores, including the league's and the teams' official shops and large retailers.
Department and sporting goods stores, which stock the most popular items and lean heavily on the home team.
Stadium stores and kiosks, which sell directly to fans on game days.
Team pro shops, which sell items that are team-specific or limited.
Third-party sellers and resale platforms, where official goods can be found but where counterfeit risk is higher.

Because the league has a single licensing system, a retailer that wants to carry team goods typically needs to be an authorized seller, and the products it stocks come from licensed manufacturers.

The college level

College licensing works through the schools themselves. Each university owns its name, logo, colors and mascot. Many schools hire a licensing agency to handle the process: the agency pursues manufacturers, approves designs, collects royalties and polices counterfeits, and shares the proceeds with the school. Other schools handle some or all of this in-house. The contracts are with the school, not with a league, so each school's program is a little different.

Where the money goes

At a college, royalty income typically goes to the school, often to the athletic department or to a general fund, depending on the institution's rules. Because much of the merchandise carries a school's name and not only its football program's brand, the revenue can be mixed across sports and the university as a whole. That is one reason it is hard to say how much a single football team earns from merchandise.

Names, numbers and NIL

For many years, college jerseys sold to the public carried a number but no player name. The reason was that selling a player's name and number without paying the player was an uncomfortable fit with the amateur model. Rules about name, image and likeness have changed that conversation. Athletes can now, under current rules, enter licensing and endorsement deals that were not allowed before, and some schools and companies have developed ways to sell athlete-branded items. The rules differ by state and by governing body and have been changing quickly, so for the current picture see our explanation of name, image and likeness in college football.

Rivalries, retro and tradition

College fans are especially attached to history, which makes some categories thrive:

Throwback and retro designs that revive older logos or uniforms.
Rivalry-week and special-event items tied to a particular matchup or trophy.
Alumni and family products, from diploma frames to baby clothes.
Spirit wear sold in campus bookstores, which lets a fan with no direct tie to football still wear the school.

Lower-division schools and small colleges also license their marks, but on a much smaller scale, and many handle the work through a campus bookstore or a local vendor.

The high school level

High school merchandise is much less formal, but the same principles apply. A school or district owns its name and mascot, and in most places it controls how those can be used. In practice, the school's athletic department or its booster club handles spirit wear: custom T-shirts, hooded sweatshirts, hats and blankets sold at the concession stand, at the school store, or online through a local vendor. The proceeds usually support the athletic program, and the logos tend to be used under informal permission from the school instead of a formal royalty arrangement. Our article on how booster clubs fund high school football explains this in more detail.

Schools do need to be careful. A high school mascot that resembles a professional team's logo can cause trouble, and a vendor who uses a professional logo on school gear without permission can run into trademark issues. Many schools therefore design their own marks and ask vendors to follow a style guide.

Following one jersey from idea to store

To make the process concrete, here is a generic path that a licensed jersey might take. Individual companies run their processes differently, so treat this as a simplified outline.

Design. The manufacturer and the licensor agree on a style, including the logo, fonts, colors and any special patches.
Approval. The licensor reviews samples for accuracy, so that team colors are correct and the logo is not distorted.
Production. Factories produce the garments, and the licensor may require that they meet labor and safety standards.
Labeling. Licensed goods usually carry an official tag or label identifying them as authorized product.
Wholesale. The manufacturer sells to retailers at a set price, and the royalty is calculated.
Retail. Retailers add their markup and sell to fans, and sales can rise and fall with a team's performance and popular players.
Customization. If a name and number are added, the retailer or manufacturer applies them, subject to the player-rights arrangements described above.

Authentic versus replica, and how to avoid fakes

Licensed jerseys come in different tiers. The most expensive versions are built to resemble what players wear, with heavier stitching and more detailed materials. Cheaper versions use simpler construction and printed details. Both can be officially licensed. For a closer comparison, read our guide to authentic versus replica jerseys.

Counterfeits are a different matter. They are copies made without permission, and they are sold to take advantage of the price gap between official and unofficial goods. Warning signs to watch for include:

A price far below the typical official price, especially for a new design.
Misspelled words, uneven stitching or off-color logos.
Missing or odd labels, or tags that look photocopied.
An unfamiliar seller on a marketplace, especially one with no history or many complaints.
Shipping times and photos that do not match the listing.

The safest approach is to buy from the official team or league store, from a major authorized retailer, or from the school's bookstore. Counterfeiting hurts the brand owner and the licensed manufacturers, and it can also mean low-quality products and no recourse for the buyer. If you want to support a team directly, buying from the team's own store usually does that most clearly.

What drives sales

Merchandise sales are not steady. A few factors are consistently important:

Winning. Success tends to bring attention, and attention tends to bring purchases.
Star players. A popular quarterback or running back can drive jersey sales.
Drafts and trades. Fans often buy the jersey of a newly arrived player.
Anniversaries and special events. Championship runs, milestone seasons and big games prompt limited editions.
Seasonality. Football merchandise sells most strongly around the season and the holidays.
Fashion. Streetwear trends, casual styles and collaborations with designers can widen the audience beyond core fans.

Teams and licensees watch these patterns closely, but nobody can guarantee a hit.

Where to look on 4Football

Our teams pages give you the quick background on any club, and our players pages help you see who is on a roster before you buy a name-and-number jersey. Keep in mind that rosters change, so check the current roster before you put a surname on an expensive shirt. For game-day trips, our stadiums page can help you find where you are headed, though official team stores and stadium shops are best checked on the team's own site.

Quick reference

Football merchandise runs on trademarks: the owner of a name or logo licenses it to manufacturers in return for royalties.
In the NFL, the league manages licensing for all teams and has long pooled and shared the proceeds.
Colleges license through each school, often with the help of an agency, and income typically goes to the school.
High school gear is mostly spirit wear managed by schools and booster clubs, with informal permissions.
Jerseys with names and numbers involve additional rights held by the players or their union.
To avoid fakes, buy from official stores or authorized sellers and be wary of prices far below normal.

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