OHIO STATE FOOTBALL Championship translates into merchandise mania

OSU didn't bump up its royalty wholesale price.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- Ohio State's first national championship in football since 1968 is translating into a record year in royalties on Buckeyes merchandise.
Final figures aren't available yet, but the total for the fiscal year ending June 30 is expected to be about $5 million, said Rick Van Brimmer, director of trademark and licensing services at Ohio State.
That's about twice what the university earned during the 2001-02 season on the sale of shirts, hats, crystal footballs and other merchandise that feature the Ohio State name and logo. It's from about $125 million in retail sales of Buckeye merchandise.
Fiesta bonanza
A big chunk of the sales came after the Jan. 3 Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Ariz., when Ohio State beat Miami 31-24 in two overtimes.
"This is clearly our best year, and I think we'll be the top college [for royalties] this year," Van Brimmer said.
The leader the past two years was the University of North Carolina, according to the Collegiate Licensing Co., an Atlanta-based licensing and marketing representative for 180 universities, bowl games and conferences. It reportedly netted $3.4 million during 2001-02.
The $5 million total at Ohio State is "extraordinary," Van Brimmer said, especially because the university did not bump up its 8 percent royalty on wholesale prices in the wake of the national championship.
"Many schools raise their rate if they win, but our intention was to reward the loyalty of our vendors who have been with our program -- many for a long time," he added.
Late start
Equally remarkable is the fact that Ohio State received no royalties from any Fiesta Bowl merchandise sold before the game.
Those royalties went into the Fiesta Bowl pot, used to pay $13.55 million to the teams' conferences -- the Big Ten for Ohio State, the Big East for Miami. That money then was divided among the leagues' teams.
Ohio State spreads the money throughout the university, unlike some schools that keep the money in the sports program.
It distributes $834,000 off the top to the general fund to support the Young Scholars Program and other scholarships. After expenses, the remainder is split among the athletics department, university libraries, student government and another scholarship program.
"When the team walked on the field in Tempe, nearly every student here benefited from it," Van Brimmer said.