Ripple becomes Kansas Jayhawks sports sponsor with XRP patch to appear on jerseys

With Ripple becoming an official sponsor of Kansas Jayhawks sports, XRP will be the first cryptocurrency to appear on the jerseys of a major collegiate athletics program, the company said Wednesday.

As part of the sponsorship deal with CEO Brad Garlinghouse's alma mater, an XRP patch will be placed on team jerseys.

"Ripple recognizes the unique reach and passion of the Jayhawk community, and we're proud they have chosen Kansas Athletics as a premier platform to introduce XRP to millions of sports fans," said Travis Goff, director of athletics at the University of Kansas. "Having the XRP logo displayed on our Jayhawk uniforms reflects a shared commitment to innovation and excellence."

While cryptocurrency firms sponsoring sports teams and arenas is nothing new, corporate logos on college jerseys are. In January, the NCAA ruled that Division I teams could begin placing corporate logos on their jerseys in August.

Besides the sports partnership, Ripple has committed to fund financial and technology education programs for student-athletes in addition to expanding "its existing talent pipeline connecting Kansas graduates to careers across the technology industry."

"For four years, a lawsuit that never should have been filed cost XRP holders real value, exchanges delisted a top digital asset, and manufactured doubt that had nothing to do with the technology or its utility," Garlinghouse said in a statement. "With the lawsuit behind us, now is the time to remind people what makes XRP unique, useful and worth paying attention to."

In 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accused Ripple of raising $1.3 billion through the sale of (XRP), which it said was an unregistered security. Last year, Garlinghouse said he and Ripple were finally moving on after years of fighting the case. In the end, Ripple was ordered to pay about $125 million, and both the SEC and Ripple dismissed their respective appeals last August.

XRP is the fourth-largest non-stablecoin cryptocurrency, with a market cap of $67.5 billion according to The Block's price data.