Cal Athletics Will Have Dialpad Sponsoring Their Jersey Patches
The California Golden Bears will have an additional revenue source for many of their crucial strategic efforts.
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Cal Athletics has agreed to a landmark jersey patch deal with AI company Dialpad, marking the first school-specific patch sponsorship in ACC history. The multiyear agreement, unveiled Tuesday and brokered by Learfield, spans all 30 of Cal’s varsity sports plus its national champion rugby program, making Dialpad the first brand to appear on the uniform of every Cal team. While exact terms weren’t disclosed, it’s believed to be the largest sponsorship in the athletic department’s history, according to Sports Business Journal.
Beyond the patch itself, the deal is notably broad, according to the Cal Athletics press release: naming rights to the Dialpad Field Club (California Memorial Stadium’s largest club space), on-field apron logos with TV visibility behind one end zone, in-venue signage at the stadium and Haas Pavilion, football radio spots, and digital advertising across CalBears.com and the Cal Bears app. Dialpad will also become the “Official AI Platform for Fan Experience of Cal Athletics,” with its AI deployed across ticket sales, service, corporate partnerships, and fundraising, plus NIL components like a content series, player appearances, and “Dialpad Dedicated Fans” video calls.
Co-AD Jenny Simon-O’Neill framed the tie-up as a natural fit for Berkeley’s identity: “It really fits into the ethos of UC Berkeley. We’re the No. 1 startup university in the nation. This is an AI company that’s based in the Bay founded by Craig Walker, a Cal alum. It’s just a really beautiful partnership from that standpoint.” Co-AD Jay Larson emphasized that securing an all-sport deal was a priority from the start, saying it was important to partner with a company that “appreciates comprehensive excellence” across football, basketball and Cal’s Olympic sports programs, not just the momentum in football alone.
Still, in the larger framework, money from this partnership is likely to be earmarked to help with overall NIL efforts, particularly with regards to Cal football and men’s basketball, and winning future transfer portal battles. Cal Football Athletic Director and General Manager Ron Rivera welcomed the deal, calling the benefits “extensive” and pointing to its impact on both the football program and the department at large.
Walker described the partnership as personally meaningful. In a company blog post, he wrote that Berkeley “challenges the norms, encourages people to think differently, question assumptions, and build what’s next,” and said those values have shaped Dialpad since its founding. He tied the partnership to the company’s broader philosophy on AI.
With this agreement, Cal becomes the 23rd school nationally to announce a jersey patch sponsorship since the NCAA cleared the way for such deals in January.