Everything you need to know about the licensing process — from application to product approval to retail.
A practical playbook for brand operators thinking about licensed product — what to know before you write the first check, and how to avoid the mistakes that quietly kill most programs in year one.
7 min read
Every licensor wants a royalty report on its own schedule, in its own format, with its own rules for what counts as a sale. This guide covers reporting periods, net sales, minimum guarantees, zero reports, audits and a template you can use as your master ledger.
Onbase · November 11, 2026 · 11 min read
A realistic, stage-by-stage timeline for the CLC licensing process, from the company application to your first approved design on the shelf. It covers where brands lose months and how to plan a launch date you can hit.
Brand Manager 360 is where CLC licensees add schools, request channels, submit designs and report royalties. Here's how each part works, and where new licensees get stuck.
Application fees are the smallest line in a licensing budget. Here is the full first-year cost of a college, pro or entertainment license, from advances and royalties to insurance, holograms and staff time.
Fanatics Licensing Management runs licensing programs for schools like Georgia, Notre Dame and Oregon. It isn't Fanatics the retailer. Here's which properties it handles and how applying, approvals and royalty reporting work there.
Onbase · November 10, 2026 · 11 min read
BrandComply is the platform where many college licensing programs, including those run by Fanatics Licensing Management on BrandComply CAMPUS, handle applications, artwork approvals, royalty reports and compliance. Here's how the work flows through it from the licensee's side.
Onbase · November 10, 2026 · 10 min read
A royalty is the share of sales you pay a rights holder for using their name, logo or IP. Here's how merchandise royalties are calculated, how advances and minimums work, and what they do to your margin.
CLC runs college licensing for the largest share of schools, but it doesn't own the marks or make the final call. Here's what CLC handles, what the schools decide, and what that means for your brand.
Affinity Licensing runs trademark programs for 100+ colleges and most national fraternities and sororities. Here's who it represents, how the Gateway application and design approvals work, and how it differs from CLC.
Onbase · November 10, 2026 · 12 min read
The CLC application step by step, from the company application to a signed agreement, plus what gets brands approved.
Onbase · October 8, 2026 · 8 min read
The real reasons schools deny college license requests, and how brands fix them and get approved next time.
Onbase · October 8, 2026 · 7 min read
A comprehensive guide to the license application process.
6 min read
Learn how to submit products for approval and manage revisions.