Ripple XRP Kansas Jayhawks sponsorship marks a historic first. Ripple announced the first-ever crypto sponsorship of a major college athletics program with the University of Kansas.
The deal places the XRP logo on the Kansas Jayhawks Division 1 team jerseys starting today.
Why Ripple XRP Kansas Jayhawks sponsorship matters
Ripple and Kansas Jayhawks announced a five-year partnership featuring XRP on jerseys. This marks the first for an NCAA Division 1 collegiate athletics program. Specifically, there will be an XRP patch on the football and basketball jerseys and all KU uniforms.
Kansas Athletics said it is a proud moment to announce this groundbreaking partnership. “A shared commitment to innovation and excellence,” it quoted.
“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. Having the XRP logo displayed on our Jayhawk uniforms reflects a shared commitment to innovation and excellence,” said Travis Goff, Director of Athletics at the University of Kansas.
Ripple also revealed that the first-ever crypto sponsorship of a major college athletics program starts today. Beyond the jersey patch sponsorship, Ripple will fund financial and technology education programs for student athletes and the campus community.
CEO Brad Garlinghouse and XRP community react
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said this is a “rare moment” where his professional and personal worlds collide. He noted that XRP is now the first crypto on the jersey of a major college athletics program.
Notably, the University of Kansas is the alma mater of Garlinghouse. “XRP Family, meet the Jayhawks,” he added as the crypto firm continues to deepen its partnership with the university.
The university also operates an official XRP Ledger validator via its engineering school. This is supported by a multimillion-dollar University Blockchain Research Initiative (UBRI) grant. Meanwhile, the community and validators eye the XRPL 3.2.0 upgrade to boost tokenization and DeFi scalability.
XRP price remains under pressure
XRP price remains under pressure today amid renewed US-Iran strikes. At the time of writing, XRP trades at $1.079. The 24-hour low and high are $1.07 and $1.13, respectively.
Nevertheless, XRP futures open interest jumped more than 1% in the past 4 hours. Specifically, OI rose 0.33% on CME and 0.75% on Binance.