Stanford strikes deal with DoorDash for jersey-patch sponsorship

Another day, another college sports sponsorship agreement.

Stanford announced a multiyear partnership with DoorDash on Friday. The agreement includes a jersey patch on Cardinal uniforms in at least 15 varsity programs, according to the school's news release, and marks the largest sponsorship deal in the history of Stanford's athletic department.

Cardinal football players will wear the jersey patch starting with Saturday night's home game against Georgia Tech.

The deal with DoorDash also is notable because its co-founders are Stanford alums Tony Xu, Andy Fang and Stanley Tang. They and classmate Evan Moore (who has since left the company) launched DoorDash, first known as Palo Alto Delivery, as a class project in 2013. The company now has its headquarters in San Francisco.

One day earlier, on Thursday, Cal announced a sponsorship agreement with Databricks, a data and AI company also based in San Francisco. That deal covers naming rights to the field at Memorial Stadium and a helmet logo; the company's founders similarly are alums of the school.

These alliances reflect the changing landscape of college sports , with revenue sharing, NIL deals and conference realignment (namely, rising travel costs) putting massive financial pressure on athletic departments. Cal and Stanford are both increasingly trying to tap into the Bay Area's corporate community, especially in technology - where their graduates have made a widespread impact.

Among the Stanford teams beyond football set to feature DoorDash apparel: men's and women's basketball, men's and women's soccer, baseball, softball and women's volleyball. The company also will have a "prominent presence across multiple department venues," according to Friday's news release, in signage and digital display.

"DoorDash is one of the world's most iconic brands and an innovative industry pioneer whose origin is synonymous to our university," Stanford athletic director John Donahoe said in a statement. "The same ingenuity, hustle and perseverance that defined the company's humble beginnings are trademark characteristics embodied by our student-athletes on the field and in the classroom."

Cardinal teams also will incorporate their new sponsor into meal planning for athletes and staff members.

Xu, the company's CEO, said in the news release, "DoorDash is proud to support the school where our journey began as a class project 13 years ago. It's humbling to team up with Stanford Athletics and its student-athletes to celebrate and encourage their drive, commitment and ambition to do big things."