By Michael McCarthy, USA TODAY The University of Texas is poised to smash Michigan's annual record for collegiate licensing royalties after the Longhorns' 41-38 upset of Southern California in the Rose Bowl. Mack Brown, surrounded by a legion of burnt orange, is in demand, like Texas-related merchandise flying off store shelves. By Brian K. Diggs, American-Statesman/AP Everything with the burnt orange Bevo silhouette, from hats, T-shirts and acoustic guitars to branded furniture and Waterford crystal collectible footballs, has been flying out of stores since quarterback Vince Young led his team to the national football title. Texas probably will double royalties to $8 million during the 2005-06 academic year, predicts Craig Westemeier, UT director of trademark licensing. That would top the $6.2 million collected by the Wolverines in 1993-94, the highest take ever among the 200 schools represented by the Collegiate Licensing Co., chief operating officer Derek Eiler says. CLC represents about 80% of all schools, with the exception of some big names such as Ohio State. "The stars have aligned to break the record," he predicts. Ohio State earned $5.2 million after its national title in the 2002-03 school year, according to the Associated Press. Texas is in talks about a possible licensing deal with high-end watchmaker Rolex, according to Westemeier. But the Austin-based school has turned down some stranger offers such as Longhorns toilet seats and, yes, licensed coffins. Texas collects about 8 cents in royalties for every dollar of wholesale revenue generated by 450 licensees such as Nike. "It's a perfect storm. Our fans are still celebrating," Westemeier says. The simple, classic Longhorns trademark could become the Nike swoosh of the college world, retail experts say. Retail sales of Texas merchandise almost tripled to $12 million for the year-to-date period ending Jan. 15, reports Neil Schwartz, the director of SportScanINFO, a market research firm. USC Trojans merchandise, meanwhile, doubled in sales to $1.2 million in the same period. "Texas has a much more national following than USC," Schwartz says. Texas can tap an immediate target market of 450,000 living alumni and 50,000 students. Electronic Arts, the biggest player in the video game industry, has put UT on the cover of its new MVP 06 NCAA Baseball. Licensed to sell Even before Texas became national champion, it had risen to No. 1 in collegiate royalties for the first time: 1. Texas 2. Michigan 3. Georgia 4. North Carolina 5. Tennessee 6. Notre Dame 7. Oklahoma 8. Florida 9. Florida State 10. Alabama Note: Rankings represent royalties on merchandise sold for the first quarter of the 2005-06 academic year, the most recent number. Source: Collegiate Licensing Co. http://www.usatoday.com/money/2006-01-19-texas-sales_x.htm
Or they could just sell autographs. (and, as for the licensed coffin, Texas A&M has had that for years... one time I went to the website to prove it and find a picture, and they were advertising them and even bragging that two of the bonfire victims were buried in them. )
I'm surprised to see UGA at #3 on this list. I travel frequently, and rarely see any UGA paraphernalia outside of Atlanta.
T-shirt fans are now making news! Hooray!! UT-Austin's athletic factory has always been about making money. Screw actually graduating the "scholar-athletes", just win baby.
"Merchandising, merchandising, where the real money from the movie is made. Spaceballs-the T-shirt, Spaceballs-the Coloring Book, Spaceballs-the Lunch box, Spaceballs-the Breakfast Cereal, Spaceballs-the Flame Thrower."
I always wondered why Rice had such a high endowment. Now I know. All their grads suffer from such insecurity that they'll spend anything to try to keep their school from turning into another nameless regional liberal arts college, ala Trinity and Southwestern. Nobody respects poor Rice. Not the Ivys, not the east and west coast public elites, not even people from their own state. Keep crying about UT. We'll just get better, and Rice will stay stuck right where it is.
LOL...I love how any negative comment that I make about the UT-Austin athletic program gets turned into a Rice bash-fest. You're right. Nobody respects Rice. It's a horrible school, despite being ranked as the top school in Texas. Oh well, I guess I'll have to live with that for the rest of my life. Woe is me!
T.J. Ford left early. Vince Young left early. the last time i checked, the current Texas coaches have pretty much kept all their winners until they graduated. (i haven't checked Augie's record.) i happen to be a Texas grad who respects and likes Rice (i have friends who have graduated from Rice and received Masters Degrees from Rice...) your Texas-bashing makes it difficult to realize that some level-headed folks actually graduate from that fine institution.
i don't hate UT b/c of their students or athletic programs. i hate them b/c they're not UH. is that wrong?
Texas had one of the worst graduation rates in America in the latest figures that came out. There was a thread about them maybe 2-3 months ago. I have no problem with UT-Austin grads. I respect the school as an academic institution.
Man, don't hate on D&D, just not cool. By the way, I don't like UT much, but isn't VY the first in a long time to leave UT football early?
that's amazing since none of the "high profile" athletes (that truly contribute to the athletic success of the programs) seem to leave. you respect the academic institution, but you don't respect winning collegiate athletics programs?
thats what happens when youre the flagship university in the state and you win a national championship. the coop owns us, they could price those tshirts at 30 bucks each and still sell them
Prob due in part to the State's mystique...not just UT. When I was living in Newport Beach a guy from New Zealand wanted my UT shirt in a bad way. He claimed that Texas was popular down there.
No surprise, I even saw someone in Tennessee yesterday with Oklahoma plates that apparently bought a UT sticker just so he could have it upside down on his car (futants.. I believe it was around 40%..and that is adjusted for transfers etc..)
every time you type in a UT thread (or most other threads), this is all i see: BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH UT BLAH BLAH BALLS BLAH.
