An Executive Voices Blog by Divya Patel, Senior SEO Executive at Alpha Dezine 

Getting approved to produce university merchandise is an important milestone. Your sales team may already be speaking with campus bookstores, your designers may have concepts ready, and your production team may already be asking when they can start.

But having a collegiate license means you need to follow the university’s brand guidelines. You need to submit designs for approval, you have to label merchandise and report royalties, and you need to keep track of the deadline to renew your license.

This guide covers what to do after getting your license and how to stay compliant with its requirements.

The Gap Between Approved and Active

Just because you have the license to produce merchandise doesn’t mean you can immediately start production. Check to see if there are additional requirements before your merchandise can be produced. For some universities and licensing agencies, you may have to sign an agreement, provide a certificate of insurance, disclose your manufacturing facility, pay a fee, or request authorized authentication labels. Check the status of the product category you want to produce before you start.

Know Who Manages Your License

Collegiate licensing does not operate through one universal portal. CLC licensees may use Brand Manager 360, while other licensing agencies and independent universities use their own systems. Each may also have different rules for submissions and reports. Keep a clear record of who manages what university and where you need to submit your requests for approval.

Step 1: Confirm Your License Scope

Never assume a collegiate license allows you to produce any item with school marks. Your agreement sets clear limits on sales channels, products, and marks.

A common mistake is confusing Internal and retail licenses.

• Internal Licenses: Schools can give products made with their marks to university departments and organizations for internal use. They do not permit sales to retailers or directly to consumers. Royalty and payment requirements depend on the applicable agreement.

• Retail / Standard Licenses: Products can be sold on or off campus and by retailers and online stores. These sales are subject to standard royalty requirements.

Step 2: Master the Artwork Approval Workflow

Having a license does not mean you can use school marks freely. Submit every unique product and design for approval through the correct portal before production.

University reviewers look for several factors, and there are a number of auditor rules that licensing partners need to be aware of.

• Mark Integrity: Are logos distorted, stretched, or using incorrect colors? The auditor rule is to maintain correct proportions and use official PMS colors.
• Clear Space & Sizing: Does the design maintain the required space around logos and crests? The auditor rule is to follow the university’s clear-space and sizing guidelines.
• Restricted Marks: Presidential seals and special commemorative marks may have restricted uses. The auditor rule is to confirm whether restricted marks require special permission from the university’s designated licensing or trademark authority.
• Co-Branding & Third-Party Marks: Combining school marks with brand logos, retailer logos, or student-athlete likenesses (NIL) may require extra approval. The auditor rule is to follow logo separation rules or obtain the required NIL agreement.

Step 3: Complete Pre-Production Checks

There are other checks that must be completed before going into full production. This can include OCLP labels (official holograms or heat-seal labels must be used when required), an approved file archive (the original design file must be kept, and any changes require reapproval), and factory disclosures (make sure subcontractors, embroidery shops, and screen-printing facilities are registered and approved).

Step 4: Organize Royalty Reporting

Collegiate royalty reporting requires accurate sales data for each SKU, not just end-of-quarter bookkeeping.

There are various rules for reporting, including:

• Reporting Frequency: When the report is required is specified in the licensing agreement, whether it is monthly or quarterly.
• Zero-Sales Reporting: Some agreements and programs require a report even if no sales were made.
• Advances & Minimum Guarantees: Confirm how any advances or minimum guarantees relate to royalty reporting.

Manually tracking sales across multiple portals and spreadsheets increases the risk of late reports, inconsistent records, and audit errors.

Step 5: Track Renewals and Ongoing Compliance

Collegiate licenses typically renew annually, and that depends on staying compliant throughout the year.

• Insurance Expirations: Submit updated Certificates of Insurance (COIs) before they expire, following each program’s deadline.
• Labor Standards & Audits: Follow university requirements for labor standards, including applicable Fair Labor Association (FLA) or Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) codes.
• Contract Renewal Deadlines: Keep track of renewal dates and check whether licenses renew automatically or require applications, updated financial information, or annual fees.

Managing Multiple Universities

Managing 20 universities is much more difficult than managing one university. Additionally, managing a program of twenty universities across multiple platforms—including CLC, Affinity Gateway, and independent portals—can easily become a significant challenge.

And, as multi-school programs grow, internal communication becomes harder to manage. For example, which homecoming  hoodie design did University B approve? Did the embroidery shop use the approved file or the initial design? And are our insurance certificates up to date across all four platforms?

A single unapproved design reaching store shelves can lead to cease-and-desist notices, lost inventory, and canceled contracts.

A Practical Post-Licensing Checklist

Finally, it’s crucial that you confirm the license is active, the product and sales channel are permitted, the exact artwork is approved, labeling and facility requirements are satisfied, and the item is configured for royalty reporting before releasing an order.

Then, add reporting deadlines and renewal dates to a shared calendar. These habits make collegiate licensing easier to manage as operations grow.

Alpha Dezine helps universities, licensees, brands, and manufacturers manage the work behind collegiate licensing. Our team supports artwork submissions, brand reviews, university approvals, asset control, product records, SKU tracking, and royalty reporting. We help turn one approved concept into school-specific variations while keeping logos, colors, and guidelines accurate. By bringing files, feedback, approval history, and product data into one connected process, Alpha Dezine reduces manual follow-ups and gives teams a clearer path from artwork to production.