Jerry Jones expands his business, goes after top college programs
Jerry Jones just officially launched an offshoot of his Cowboys Merchandising Ltd. company called Silver Star Merchandising. The goal of Silver Star is to lure top college athletic programs with the hopes of banking off of the program’s success with the sale of logo branded apparel. Jones’ first victim was the University of Southern California.
According to Trojan athletic director, Pat Haden, the university just inked a 10-year deal giving Jones exclusive rights to manufacture, license and distribute Trojan sports apparel on campus. Nike still has exclusive rights for all apparel worn on the field, but outside of that, Jones has free will.
Jones’ design team is already in the works manufacturing unique Trojan jerseys, T-shirts, and hats. Though the financial terms were not disclosed, the Trojans have a major pecuniary interest because the royalties exceed Nike’s.
Silver Star isn’t stopping at USC. Jones is aggressively pursuing Ohio State University and the University of Texas. The question remains, is it a good idea to have Jones so closely tied to marquee college programs.
