University merchandise brings in large revenue

When the titans clash this Saturday, the camps of Notre Dame and Michigan fans will don school colors and cheer for their respective teams.

But even die-hard fans may not realize the differences in how the schools raise and distribute their merchandising profits.

Derek Eiler, director of university services at the Collegiate Licensing Company, said there is no easy formula for knowing what schools will hit it big with the public. Eiler said Notre Dame and Michigan are two of the most popular teams.

"There are a lot of factors that determine how successful a school is in merchandising - colors, TV exposure, logos, tradition, academic and athletic success," Eiler said.

Michigan gets corporate support from companies like Pepsi, Nike and First of America, while Notre Dame has contracts with Adidas and Champion.

PAUL TALANIAN/Daily Standing on the corner of South and East University avenues yesterday, a man sells Notre Dame T-shirts.

Michigan Director of Licensing Paul Schager said Michigan is not hurting for licensing profits.

"As far as schools that report revenue from royalties in licensing, involving the sales of university merchandise, Michigan ranks first," Schager said.

Revenue for Michigan includes a controversial contract with Nike. Signed in 1994, the contract was the largest of its kind at that time, and brought in $7.1 million to the Athletic Department.

After Michigan, top schools include University of North Carolina, Kentucky University and Penn State University, said Bill Battle, CEO of Collegiate Licensing Company.

The reason little is known about Notre Dame's revenue stems from their independent style of marketing, as well as their status as a private school, Eiler said.

"Michigan is part of a powerful group of schools, and Notre Dame does its licensing independently," Eiler said. "Notre Dame manages their program in-house, and Michigan runs its licensing program through the CLC, which has 50 people on staff working in different types of licensing."

Since the University of Notre Dame is a private institution, it doesn't release its annual revenue from athletic licensing. John Heisler, sports information director of Notre Dame, said the school wants more than a healthy profit.

"The excess (revenue) goes to the University for the entire school," Heisler said. "We're on a budget from one year to the next. The university will deal with us in the same manner as the math or English department."

At Michigan, funds raised through ticket sales and merchandising remain in the Athletic Department.

"We don't do marketing in the sense that other people do it," Heisler said. "We do have a shoe contract and Champion provides the vast amount of our jerseys, but advertising is on a limited basis."

Schager wouldn't provide Michigan's revenue from corporate sponsors, but said Michigan does have major sponsors.

"Corporate sponsorship is an inclusive term," Schager said. "It includes TV revenue, radio, program sales, and the true corporate sponsorships with the University, such as Nike or Pepsi."

-Daily Staff Reporter William Nash contributed to this report.

Dan Switzer, manager at Steve and Barry's on State Street, said consumers need to be conscious about buying products that are properly registered with the schools they represent. This provides for greater revenue returns to the universities, he said.

"People should make sure that what they buy is officially licensed," Switzer said. "Anything licensed through U of M that has Michigan written on it has a 7-percent royalty fee."

--Daily Staff Reporter William Nash contributed to this report.

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