Ripple Partners with Kansas Jayhawks for First NCAA Crypto Sponsorship
In a historic move, Ripple has become the first cryptocurrency company to sponsor a major college athletics program, signing a five-year partnership with the Kansas Jayhawks. The deal places the XRP logo on the jerseys of the university’s Division 1 football and basketball teams, effective immediately.
Kansas Athletics Director Travis Goff highlighted the shared values between the organizations, stating, ‘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.’
Beyond the jersey patch, Ripple will fund financial and technology education programs for student athletes and the campus community. The University of Kansas also operates an official XRP Ledger validator through its engineering school, supported by a previous multimillion-dollar University Blockchain Research Initiative grant.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse expressed personal excitement, noting the University of Kansas is his alma mater. ‘Rare moment where my professional and personal worlds collide: XRP is now the first crypto on the jersey of a major college athletics program,’ he said on social media. ‘XRP Family, meet the Jayhawks.’
The announcement comes as XRP trades at $1.08, down slightly amid broader market pressures. However, XRP futures open interest has risen over 1% in the past four hours, including gains on both CME and Binance. The community continues to monitor the XRPL 3.2.0 upgrade, which aims to enhance tokenization and DeFi scalability.