University of North Carolina Athletics
Carolina Leads all Universities in Merchandise Sales for Fourth Straight Year
September 22, 2004 | General
Sept. 22, 2004
by UNC News Services
CHAPEL HILL -- The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's net licensing royalties and related investment proceeds totaled $3.7 million in fiscal 2003-2004, marking the second best year in the program's history.
Fiscal 2002-2003 was the best in the program's history.
Although 2003-2004's total represented a 3.7 percent, or about $140,500, decrease from the prior year, 2003-2004 was UNC's fourth consecutive year as the Collegiate Licensing Co.'s strongest performer, said Derek Lochbaum, UNC's director of trademarks and licensing.
Michigan, Texas, Notre Dame and Louisiana State University followed UNC in the CLC ranking. The CLC is the nation's leading collegiate licensing and marketing representative, and its consortium is made up of more than 180 universities, bowl games, conferences, the NCAA and the Heisman Trophy.
The new rankings were part of a report Lochbaum made today (Sept. 22) to the UNC Board of Trustees' Finance Committee.
UNC policies control the use of trademark language and logos. When businesses receive approval to use these marks, the university shares in the proceeds through its trademark licensing program. At UNC, 75 percent of net proceeds from the licensing program go toward general scholarships and 25 percent go to the department of athletics.
After payment of operational expenses, nearly $3.5 million was available for distribution: $2.6 million will go to student scholarships, with $868,257 going toward athletics.
The university's royalties earned in fiscal 2003-2004 represent retail sales of about $105 million, and the combination of Nike USA and Brand Jordan established Nike as UNC's largest licensee, with royalties of about $1.1 million.
"We will continue to look for ways in which we can increase revenue without compromising the integrity of the Carolina brand," said Lochbaum.
For example, he added, UNC is one of the first universities to institute a product category management strategy for headwear. This strategy has allowed UNC to create a stable base of headwear suppliers that have made long-term commitments to the program and support the goals of the licensing program.
"Although national headwear retailers had reported a downturn in collegiate sales, we experienced a 4 percent growth in this category," he added.
