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The university earned a record $2.8 million in royalties from sales of sweat shirts, hats, jerseys and other items in the budget year that ended June 30. That was up $700,000, or 33 percent, from the previous year.
Half of the money goes to Bucky Grants, which are given to the poorest undergraduates on campus. The number of students receiving those grants will double to 300 this school year and the average award will grow by 40 percent to nearly $4,700 as a result of the growth in sales.
“People are spending their brains out on Buckywear,” said Susan Fischer, director of financial aid. “And it’s good. The Bucky Grant has been a wonderful thing.”
The Collegiate Licensing Co., an Atlanta firm that is the leader in the collegiate licensing industry, listed UW-Madison as its 13th top-selling university in 2007-2008 and among the fastest-growing from the previous year. The company helps the university — and nearly 200 other schools, bowl games and athletic conferences — develop and manage its brand.
CLC Vice President John Greeley said Wisconsin’s large fan base, a cold climate that fosters sales of higher-priced fleece items, the school’s attractive logos and strong athletic performance in recent years fueled the growth.
The university also raised its royalty rates last year from 8 percent to 10 percent, the first increase since 1996.
The 500 firms that have licenses to use dozens of trademarked UW logos pay that fee to Collegiate Licensing on the wholesale price of goods they sell to retail stores. The company keeps 15 percent as an administrative fee and passes the rest to the university, which splits the money between financial aid and the athletics department.
Collegiate Licensing has collected more than $22.8 million in royalties for the university since its contract started in 1987, according to information provided this week to the Board of Regents. The university is asking the regents to extend the contract through 2018. Final approval could come Friday.
The contract would be slightly more lucrative for the university, reducing the company’s administrative fee to 10 percent on royalties collected above $2 million per year. That would have meant an additional $40,000 for the school this year.
The university credits the company with making Wisconsin among the most visible and lucrative collegiate brands in the country and maximizing revenues associated with bowl games and NCAA tournament appearances. The company also has enforced the university’s code of conduct to ensure its apparel is not made in sweatshop-like conditions.
Cindy Van Matre, who runs the university’s trademark licensing program, said Wisconsin fans are buying more partly because the Internet has made merchandise more widely available. Women’s apparel is one fast growing category, she said.
Van Matre said overall royalty revenues have grown 160 percent from six years ago, partly as a result of a redesign of the university’s Bucky Badger logo to make it more attractive.
The growing revenue partly explains why the university has gone to great lengths to protect its trademarks in recent years. The university is suing Washburn University of Topeka, Kan., in federal court, alleging the school is infringing on its trademarks by using W logos that are too similar to Wisconsin’s prized Motion W.
While the suit is the first of its kind, the university also has routinely warned high schools to stop using similar logos. Collegiate Licensing employees also track down entrepreneurs selling illegal Wisconsin T-shirts before sporting events, Van Matre said.
Fischer, the financial aid director, said low-income students are grateful for the revenue. She said $1.4 million is set aside for Bucky Grants this year, nearly three times as much as last year.
The money is targeted to students from families with an average income of about $24,000. The grants, along with other state and federal aid, help them pay the estimated annual $19,000 tuition and living costs.
“It’s not their entire aid package, but it goes along way,” Fischer said. “I’m inspired to go out and buy a Bucky vest or two.”
