As any Dallasite could tell you, the Joneses of Arkansas are particularly adept at a few things: being and looking wealthy; Owning a football team (though not necessarily running that team as, say, general management); and squeezing every last drop of profitability out of any and every financial venture related to that football team.
In 1996, when Jones realized that the NFL had exclusive rights to the team’s name only, he quickly struck an endorsement deal with Nike, allowing the shoe giant to plaster advertising throughout Texas Stadium. Now, the Joneses are set to take on the college game.
According to the SportsBusiness Journal, Jerry Jones, Jr. will head Silver Star Merchandising, who recently announced their first partner--the University of Southern California. From the SportsBusiness Journal article, via the Dallas Morning News:
Silver Star's strategy is to develop a private label brand of Southern Cal jerseys, T-shirts and hats with the tags on those items displaying only the Trojan athletics logos, Jones said. Under the terms of the agreement, Silver Star has flexibility to sign deals with other manufacturers to produce items to take advantage of market trends, he said. Those lines would also be branded exclusively with the Trojans marks. Silver Star does not get the rights to sell Nike authentics.
Which is to say, Silver Star will provide just about everything for USC aside from gameday uniforms, which are supplied by Nike. According to reports, the company has also made an overture to Ohio State University, as well.
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