Minster: KU athletics greedy for revenue

T-shirt licensing rakes in funds, eliminates competition

Column photo

By Brandon Minster

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Those of you who still find humor in the fifth-grade joke slogan of “Muck Fizzou,” the Athletic Department wants to save you from your own poor judgment, even if it means paying hefty lawyer fees. How magnanimous! But a closer look sees past the altruism and exposes the greed and hypocrisy involved in the University’s claims.

In last week’s University Daily Kansan, associate athletics director Jim Marchiony gave two reasons for opposing the shirts sold by Joe-College.com.

“Many of the shirts attach themselves to the University and are in poor taste,” he said. He added, “There are licensees who pay a fee for the right to use the Kansas marks and it’s not fair to them for others to be circumventing the rules.”

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So a “KU is great” shirt is legally different than a “KU sucks” shirt? I don’t see it, but I do see a difference between protecting the school’s image and trying to change it through silencing conflicting opinions.

Unfortunately, neither is the true reason for the legal action. Instead, it is athletic department revenue.

As reported by Michael Phillips in the Wichita Eagle, the University’s distribution of licensing revenue changed last year, and now the Athletic Department pays a fixed amount to the chancellor’s office and pockets the rest. Increased revenue stays entirely within the Athletic Department, and one way to raise revenue is to remove competition.

When it comes to determining if a shirt violates university trademark, Marchiony told Phillips, “It depends on what else is on it.” So a “KU is great” shirt is legally different than a “KU sucks” shirt? I don’t see it, but I do see a difference between protecting the school’s image and trying to change it through silencing conflicting opinions. Shirts that say “Muck Fizzou” or feature a cartoon sperm labeled “KU Swim Team” present a view of the University that, however unwanted, is warranted. There exists at KU an irrational hatred of Missouri and a fixation on sex. If it weren’t true, people would see these shirts and think, “What’s that supposed to mean?” These shirts sell here because they portray an image many students want to associate with themselves, and at a cost significantly below officially licensed material.

If the University were concerned with licensees’ bottom lines, why did they raise the license fee from 8 percent to 9 percent this year? And if the concern is over poor taste, why does the University seek to profit from student credit card debt through the officially licensed Visa card I was offered this week? “Dear KU Student,” the letter began on a personal note. “You’re a Jayhawk.” And so at a starting APR of only 17.15 percent I could get my own Jayhawk Visa.

Funny, I thought credit card debt was a problem among students. Maybe I can start selling a shirt that reads “KU Credit Card Team.” For only a nine percent cut, the Athletic Department would call it kosher.

Minster is a Lawrence junior in economics.

 

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