Mike De Sisti / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel/Doug Engle/Ocala Star-Banner
Wisconsin football player next to Culver's sign
Earlier this year, the NCAA gave athletic programs the opportunity to rake in even more money by slapping sponsored patches on jerseys. Most fans aren’t going to be thrilled with that development, but there may be an exception with the ones who root for the University of Wisconsin, which landed the perfect partner after joining forces with Culver’s.
It’s been close to a decade since the NBA seized onto a new revenue stream in the form of the sponsored patches that made their debut on jerseys during the 2017-18 season, and there was zero doubt other leagues were going to follow in their footsteps once that domino fell.
The NHL followed suit in 2022 before the MLB decided to get in on the action the following year, and as things currently stand, the NFL is the only member of the “Big Four” that has declined to get in on the action.
In January, we were treated to yet another milestone when it comes to the increased professionalization of college sports when the NCAA announced it was giving schools the opportunity to adopt patches, as teams will be permitted to have a sponsor logo no bigger than four square inches on their uniforms once the upcoming academic year kicks off.
Close to a dozen schools have announced deals with various corporate partners, and Wisconsin recently managed to land a sponsorship most people won’t instinctively recoil at.
Wisconsin set the bar for sponsored patches on jerseys after linking up with Culver’s
Matt Brown has been using Extra Points to keep track of the schools that have lined up patch sponsorships, and Wisconsin joined their ranks in April when the university announced its women’s sports teams will rock jerseys emblazoned with the UW Health logo.
That seemed to suggest the school was also willing to violate the sanctity of the uniforms for its men’s teams, and on Tuesday, we learned that is indeed the case. However, it was pretty hard to hate on the patch the guys who play football, basketball, and hockey for the Badgers will be sporting when you consider they’ll be repping Culver’s.
Freshly stitched. Never frozen.
A partnership rooted in Wisconsin and built to create meaningful opportunities for Badger student-athletes.
#OnWisconsin x @culvers pic.twitter.com/xoSjl1Zq0g— Wisconsin Badgers (@UWBadgers) June 30, 2026
For the uninitiated, Culver’s is a fast food chain that opened its first restaurant in Wisconsin in 1984. It currently boasts close to 1,100 locations across the country, including over 150 outposts in Wisconsin that serve up its signature ButterBurger, cheese curds, and custard.
It is firmly the most popular fast food chain in Wisconsin, and while some fans may understandably object to the arrival of patches on principle, their rollout will undoubtedly be more well-received if more schools were able to work out a deal that feels as organic as this one.