Wisconsin is the first Big Ten school to sign a jersey patch sponsorship. The Badgers inked a partnership with UW Health across four women’s sports.

The UW Health ad will appear on both home and away jerseys for Wisconsin women’s basketball, volleyball, hockey and softball, the school announced Thursday. Learfield and Badger Sports Properties facilitates the agreement, which will take effect with the 2026-27 school year.

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Additionally, Wisconsin female athletes will take part in different campaigns to promote health messages. UW Health is also the title sponsor for Badgers women’s sports.

“We are incredibly proud to have UW Health, a trusted and longtime partner, as the Badgers’ first jersey patch sponsor,” said Wisconsin athletics director Chris McIntosh in a statement. “Women’s sports have a powerful and storied legacy at Wisconsin, and UW Health’s landmark commitment sends a clear message about their support for our student athletes and the future we are building together for Wisconsin Athletics.”

Under the new NCAA legislation, which takes effect Aug. 1, schools will be able to place up to two additional commercial logos on uniforms and one additional logo on equipment during both the preseason and postseason. They can also add another logo on uniforms and apparel during conference championships.

Patches are limited to a maximum of 4 square inches per logo, according to the NCAA. The legislation is in effect for non-NCAA championship competition.

Wisconsin latest school to land jersey patch deal

Wisconsin is the third Power Five program to announce a jersey patch sponsorship since the NCAA approved new legislation in January. The other two are in the SEC. LSU signed an agreement with Woodside Energy across all sports while Arkansas landed a landmark partnership with Tyson Foods, which also spans across all Razorbacks sports programs.

Additionally, three Group of 6 schools are also cashing in through jersey patch ads. UNLV was one of the first to announce such an agreement, landing a partnership with Acceso Biologics in December ahead of the anticipated rule change. Acceso’s logo will appear on football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball jerseys.

In February, Louisiana-Monroe announced a partnership with Samaritan’s Purse for its football jerseys. Most recently, in late March, New Mexico State announced a deal with Inn of the Mountain Gods Resort and Casino late last month for six sports – football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, volleyball, baseball and softball.

Although general managers are on the rise in college basketball, Tom Izzo still oversees all aspects of his Michigan State program. He noted key differences between the collegiate and professional games when it comes to dealing with money.

With that, though, Izzo wants to see an important change in college sports. He called for more transparency as the NIL era continues to evolve with revenue-sharing now in place.

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Although there’s a revenue-sharing cap in college sports, which is due to increase this summer, Izzo said it’s different from the salary caps in the NBA and NFL. Because player salaries are known at the professional level, there’s a different dynamic when dealing with money. That’s why Izzo wants to see similar transparency in the college game.

“I hear all these guys got GMs and all that, I think it’s great,” Izzo told Dan Patrick. “But at the end of the day, the head coach is making the decisions. In the NBA and NFL, it’s different because there’s salary caps, everybody knows there’s transparency.

“If I looked at everything we’re doing – the NIL, the tampering … the transfer portal – if I had one thing I’d like to change, it would be just transparency so we all know what everybody’s making and doing, and then, we’re not getting lied to by everybody. Transparency would really help the profession right now.”

Through the early part of the rev-share era, the College Sports Commission has taken steps toward more transparency. The CSC releases regular NIL deal reports from the NIL Go clearinghouse detailing the amount of third-party deals cleared and denied, as well as how much they’re worth, and the number of deals in arbitration. The most recent NIL deal flow report came out March 10.

However, when it specifically comes to rev-share dollars directly from schools, universities are keeping those close to the vest. In fact, a trio of journalists in Louisiana is planning to sue LSU over such records.

Tom Izzo: ‘Adapt’ doesn’t mean ‘there’s no rules’

During the interview, Tom Izzo also responded to a quote from Ohio State head coach Ryan Day earlier this week. He cited the need to “adapt or die” in college athletics, drawing comparisons to the documentary The Dinosaurs on Netflix.

Dan Patrick also pointed out the number of coaches who retired, including Jay Wright and Tony Bennett, amid the NIL era. Izzo called himself “too stubborn” to step away, but acknowledged he has to grapple with concerns about the coaching profession by staying on the sidelines. That said, he agreed with Day’s statement.

“I feel good, to be honest with you,” Izzo said. “I still have the energy, I still love my players. I don’t love my profession. But that’s three out of four are on my side, so I’ve got to deal with the profession. Like Ryan said, adapt somewhat.

“But adapt doesn’t mean, all of a sudden, there’s no rules. There’s no accountability. What we’re going through now, anytime there’s a problem, just get a lawyer and fix it. I guess lawyers must be that good or judges.”