Auburn University See Merchandise Sales Surge After Championship Win

Auburn University’s college National Championship win has propelled them to more than double its royalties from licensed merchandise sales.

Merchandise royalties at Auburn, which beat the University of Oregon in January to win its first national title since 1957, surged to $5.3 million for 2010-11 from $2.5 million a year earlier, according to the Alabama state school.

The haul helped Auburn climb to No. 4 from 15th in an annual list of top collegiate merchandise royalty earners released by the College Licensing co, a division of IMG Worldwide. It’s a lofty ranking Auburn might keep even without on-field success this season, said Cory Moss, a vice president for Atlanta-based CLC.

“A championship is extremely valuable, as it obviously played a major role in Auburn jumping that high,” Moss said in a telephone interview. “We definitely anticipate a carryover not only just for the year after but throughout, because we’re continually trying to develop that brand and utilize the national championship to catapult them to the next level.”

Auburn were led to the win by NFL number one draft pick Cam Newton which could havd added to the sales.

The rankings cover royalties reported between July 1, 2010, and June 30, 2011, by clients of CLC, which account for about 80 percent of the market. The company doesn’t represent every major-conference school, with Ohio State and Southern California among those not on its list.

The University of Texas said it earned $10.6 million in royalties in the last year, more than any other CLC school. Alabama ranked second, followed by Florida.

Ohio State took in $9.4 million in royalties, according to the Columbus, Ohio, school, while USC does not break out royalty revenue in its annual report.