The University of Hawaiʻi approved a new licensing agent for a three-year contract representing all 10 UH campuses plus athletics branding for UH Mānoa and UH Hilo.
Affinity Licensing was chosen to provide trademark licensing for the Vulcans at UH Hilo and Rainbow Warriors and Rainbow Wahine at UH Mānoa. The company will provide service for licensing applications, guidelines, online review of proposed products, compliance and enforcement and marketing support.
The company takes over for Learfield Licensing Partners, which represented UH athletics and the three four-year universities and seven community college campuses over the past 15 years.
“Affinity Licensing’s proposal showed the most comprehensive plan for marketing UH brands for strong growth,” said UH Hilo Athletics Director Patrick Guillen. “They understand the importance of our local fans and the need to keep the feel of the islands in our products while modernizing the selections.”
“We appreciate that Affinity Licensing plans to be aggressive in developing the market for our brands from the start,” said UH Mānoa Athletics Director David Matlin. “We look forward to the next years of this partnership.”
Affinity Licensing plans to launch back-to-school campaigns at the beginning of the fall 2019 academic year.
Its proposal includes a guarantee of $250,000 a year to UH even if royalties drop below that level. Annual royalties for the first $500,000 in sales will give UH 85 percent of royalties and 90 percent for sales beyond that dollar figure.
The three-year contract includes two optional extension years. Affinity Licensing ensured that UH will be a top priority for the company. It also represents other colleges, including Kent State University in Ohio, Troy University in Alabama and Georgia State University.
