Licensing regulations will limit Penn State football jersey sale number options in 2016 season, beyond

Measures regarding the hotly contested argument involving the NCAA’s profits off of names and likenesses of student-athletes, particularly football players, have reached businesses in State College.

Officially licensed stores in the area will not be able to sell jersey numbers outside of three specific options: No. 1, No. 16 and No. 94 starting next season.

Each option does hold significance for Penn State football — the No. 16 will mark the year, the No. 94 marks Penn State’s undefeated season and the No. 1 is becoming standard across programs taking similar measures — and apparently aims to steer the consumer/fan away from a specific player, to avoid the perception that the store and school is “profiting” off of that player.

Lions Pride, an officially licensed Penn State store, received notice of the change on Tuesday, according to owner Steve Moyer.

The store posted on its Facebook page on Thursday to notify customers.

“Want a #26 Nike jersey next year? You're out of luck. Nike will only produce #1, #16 and #94. Want to know why? So do we. Apparently Penn State is not the only NCAA school regulating its jersey selection,” it said.

Penn State Athletics released a statement to the Centre Daily Times regarding the regulations.

“As we continue to monitor best practices in the industry, we have observed the direction of sales of licensed jerseys,” said department spokesman Jeff Nelson. “Penn State has chosen numbers that will enable alumni, students and fans to celebrate the tradition and history of Nittany Lion football and the 2016 season: the number 1, which represents the pursuit of comprehensive excellence by Penn State Athletics; the number 16, for the current season; and the number 94, which represents Penn State's last undefeated football season.”

Moyer said he still has not heard from the licensing department regarding the reasoning, but he expects the shipment of jerseys for the 2016-17 season to arrive in early July. He had planned to order No. 26 jerseys (for Penn State phenom running back Saquon Barkley), but now the diversity of options in his store only includes the remaining jerseys from last season (fans can still buy them until they’re gone) until the regulated numbers arrive.

He added that the store will likely only order No. 1 this next season, and since the demand for Barkley’s No. 26 has been so high, he believes the new regulations will negatively affect his business — at least in the first year.

“I think as more and more schools go this route, fans and customers will become accustomed to only buying those numbers,” said Moyer. “But that’s why we kind of want to get the word out, so that fans understand first and foremost that it’s not our decision, and two that that’s what will be available come fall.”

“Players and kids are smart. Knowing that those numbers are what is going to be sold, kids will start to figure it out and either switch numbers, or if you’re a recruit coming in next year you’re going to maybe take No. 17 if you want your jersey to be sold in the store.”

Moyer also thinks that custom-made options, like those found at The Family Clothesline, will be “policed” as well — though he doesn’t know how strictly.

The Family Clothesline confirmed that both their numbered jerseys and their blank customizable jerseys are indeed licensed through Penn State Athletics, but did not comment regarding the new number restrictions and directed questioning to managers, who are out of the office until Monday.

According to a New York Times article published just before the 2015-16 season started, Penn State is following a pattern many other schools are falling into, in light of continuing court cases involving the NCAA that challenge institutions’ rights to profit off of student-athletes’ likenesses — or even perception of likeness (like jerseys with names or even a complete roster of number availability), as the NCAA has already stopped selling jerseys with both names and numbers on the back.

Last season, as cited by the article, Ohio State offered only Nos. 1 and 15, but got a little “lucky” (depending on which side of the debate one stands) that the program’s prolific running back, Ezekiel Elliot (who is now off to the NFL) wore No. 15. This season, quarterback J.T. Barrett’s jersey number is actually the year allowed per licensing options chosen by the university, so Buckeye-affiliated stores won’t be likely to see a profit dip — and fans can still feel as if they’re wearing the jersey of a star player.

Interestingly enough, that perception in itself seems to make measures taken by the NCAA to regulate licensing moot.

The aforementioned article brings up Mississippi State as an example of schools hoping to avoid even “accidental” affiliation — players in the program will be unable to choose any NCAA-regulated number sold in stores.

The article also cites different methodology used by schools like USC and Oregon, who ask current players to sign name-likeness permission forms and then adjust jersey number production accordingly.

But at Penn State, fans will have to wait until the year 2026 — all other factors equal — before purchasing what will then be a “throwback Barkley” jersey.

Note: Efforts to reach Penn State’s licensing department went unanswered. The Centre Daily Times will provide updates as necessary.

This story was originally published February 12, 2016 at 3:40 PM with the headline "Licensing regulations will limit Penn State football jersey sale number options in 2016 season, beyond."