Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images
College quarterbacks have been allowed to make money off their names for years now, but Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele may have produced the purest visual representation of modern college football yet. Cal’s reportedly $3 million quarterback had his own merchandise tent outside Memorial Stadium on Saturday, sitting directly across from the school’s actual team store and selling clothes that put money in his own pocket.
The giant blue tent featured Sagapolutele’s “JKS” logo and No. 3 signature while selling bags for $24.98, T-shirts for $49.98 and hoodies for $74.98 during Cal’s opener against UCLA. His management team told the San Francisco Chronicle that the profits go to Sagapolutele, which means fans arriving to watch the Golden Bears could essentially choose between buying Cal apparel or financially supporting Cal’s quarterback directly.
JKS Basically Opened A Store At His Own Stadium
This is where NIL has arrived.
Not a sponsored Instagram post. Not a car dealership commercial. Not an autograph signing at a mall. An active college quarterback effectively had his own retail operation outside the stadium where he was about to play.
One fan reportedly bought a JKS hoodie without even realizing it belonged to Sagapolutele’s personal brand because the line was shorter than the team store.
That might be the strongest sales pitch imaginable.
The JKS brand officially launched in March and is supposed to extend well beyond football. Sagapolutele’s management has talked openly about building something that can follow him throughout his career rather than simply slapping his initials on shirts until his college eligibility expires.
Being one of the most valuable players in college football certainly helps.
Sagapolutele is receiving a projected $3 million from Cal and its NIL ecosystem this season, according to The San Francisco Standard. That figure does not include whatever he makes from outside NIL deals or his personal JKS business, although Sagapolutele himself has said he does not know whether the widely reported $3 million number is accurate.
So apparently the quarterback compensation package now has multiple revenue streams.
Very normal amateur athletics stuff.
College Football Players Are Becoming Their Own Businesses
Sagapolutele has enough football ability to make the operation considerably more than a novelty.
He threw for 3,454 yards and 18 touchdowns as a true freshman last season and became one of the biggest retention battles in college football after other programs came calling. Cal kept him, raised massive donor money, and entered 2026 trying to build its program around the sophomore quarterback.
Now fans can literally buy into the brand on game day.
The timing is especially funny because Cal just opened a brand-new team store at Memorial Stadium this season.
Across the walkway sits the quarterback’s competition.
There was a time when college players could get in trouble because somebody bought them dinner. Now Cal’s starting quarterback can put up a tent across from the university store, sell $75 hoodies bearing his own logo, and keep the profits.