How Affinity Licensing works, and how to get licensed through Affinity Gateway.

Affinity Licensing is a licensing agency that runs trademark programs for more than 100 colleges and universities, many of them mid-major programs, plus most national fraternities and sororities. If you want to put one of those schools' or Greek organizations' names, letters or logos on a product, you apply through Affinity, not the school or chapter directly.

The process runs through Affinity Gateway, Affinity's portal for brands. You build a complete application, pay the application fee and send physical samples. Affinity doesn't start its review until both the fee and the samples arrive. From there, the schools and organizations you've asked for decide whether to license you, you finish onboarding and sign, and every design gets approved before you produce anything.

The short version

1. Confirm Affinity manages the property. Many schools work with CLC or Fanatics Licensing Management instead, and the processes don't transfer.
2. Build the full packet first: company background, manufacturing, distribution plan, marketing plan, financials and insurance.
3. Apply in Gateway, pay the fee and ship samples together. Nothing moves until both arrive.
4. Win approval from each school or Greek organization. Affinity runs the program, but each client decides who gets its marks.
5. Finish onboarding: insurance with the right additional insured, labor and supply-chain documents, and the signed agreement.
6. Submit every design for approval before you manufacture.
7. Report royalties on the schedule in your agreement, and keep clean books.

Who Affinity represents

Affinity's client list falls into two groups.

• Colleges and universities. More than 100 schools, weighted toward mid-major programs rather than the biggest Power conference names. For many of these schools, Affinity is the only route to a license.
• Fraternities and sororities. Affinity represents most national Greek organizations. Their names, letters, crests and other marks are trademarks of each organization, and selling Greek product without a license is the same problem as selling unlicensed college product.

Two things follow from that mix. First, a school license and a Greek license are separate. Being licensed with a university doesn't give you rights to a fraternity's letters, and the reverse is also true. Second, each client is its own decision. Affinity screens your company, but the school or organization decides whether your product belongs in its program.

The quickest way to check who manages a specific school is our directory of 690+ schools and how to apply to each. Check before you build a plan, because the wrong agency means the wrong portal, the wrong forms and the wrong clocks.

How Affinity differs from CLC and Fanatics

There's no single college licensing office. Most schools hire one of a few agencies, and each runs its own system.

	CLC	Fanatics Licensing Management	Affinity Licensing
Who it represents	The largest share of schools, plus conferences and bowl games	A set of schools, including several big-brand programs	100+ schools, many mid-majors, plus most national Greek organizations
Portal	Brand Manager 360	BrandComply CAMPUS	Affinity Gateway
Application clocks	Company application, then a first school's approval, then onboarding. A school's approval expires after 90 days if the paperwork isn't done	Applications are discontinued if samples and the fee don't arrive within 20 days	Review doesn't start until the fee and physical samples both arrive
Reporting	Monthly, by the 20th	Set by the agreement	Set by the agreement

What that means in practice:

• Samples matter earlier at Affinity. At CLC, the first step is a company application. At Affinity, physical product is part of the application itself, so you need real samples ready before you apply, not just mockups.
• Greek product is mostly an Affinity question. If fraternity and sorority product is part of your plan, Affinity is where most of that work happens.
• Your track record carries over. A clean history with CLC or another licensor is one of the strongest signals you can bring to an Affinity application. List your current licenses, and expect Affinity to check them for category conflicts.
• Nothing transfers automatically. A CLC license doesn't cover Affinity schools, and your Brand Manager 360 account does nothing in Gateway. Each agency needs its own application, insurance paperwork and agreement.

If CLC is also on your list, our step-by-step guide to the CLC application covers that process.

Applying through Affinity Gateway

Treat the Gateway application as a business case, not a form. Affinity, like every licensor, is answering three questions: can you make and ship the product, can you sell it without hurting the brand, and are you a financial risk? Anything that leaves one of those open puts you in the "needs more info" pile.

1. Set up your Gateway account

Gateway is where you apply and where you'll submit designs once you're licensed. Set up the account under a shared company email rather than one person's inbox, and store the login in a shared password manager. Brands lose weeks when the one person with the credentials leaves.

2. Build the packet before you start

Gather everything up front so Affinity doesn't have to come back to you. Our guide to license applications covers each section in detail. At minimum:

• Company background: year founded, ownership, leadership, revenue, and the licenses you already hold.
• Manufacturing and quality: your factory list with country of origin, capacity, lead times, quality control, and relevant material certifications.
• Distribution plan: the channels you'll actually sell through, named retailers where you have buy-in, and your average retail price.
• Marketing plan: how you'll promote the product and the audience you already have.
• Financials and insurance: recent financials and product liability coverage with the licensor named as additional insured.
• Labor documents: a company code of conduct and supplier standards. Schools expect both.

3. Pay the fee and send samples together

Affinity doesn't review an application until both the application fee and your physical samples arrive. An application with only one of the two just sits.

Ship samples that represent the product you'll actually make, in the construction and quality you'll actually deliver. Track the shipment and confirm receipt rather than assuming it landed.

4. Choose your schools and organizations deliberately

Name the clients you actually want and can support, not every Affinity client you can find. A focused list is easier to approve and easier to back with real demand. If you're applying for Greek product, the same rule applies: pick the organizations where you have customers or a real plan to reach them.

5. Win each client's approval

Each school or Greek organization makes its own call, and the questions are consistent:

1. Is the product incremental, or will it eat existing licensees' sales?
2. Is there real retail demand, such as named retailers, presales or purchase orders?
3. Is the distribution focused?
4. Is the product actually different in construction, material, customer, price tier or occasion?
5. Will the brand protect the name and supply chain?
6. Does the plan speak to this school or organization?

A plan written for "any client" loses to one written for this one.

6. Finish onboarding and sign

Once a client approves, you'll complete insurance paperwork, any remaining labor and supply-chain documents, and the license agreement. Read the agreement for royalty terms, advance, minimum guarantees, approved categories, approved channels and term length. Those terms vary by client.

Design approvals in Gateway

A signed agreement means you're licensed. It doesn't mean you can produce. Every design is submitted and approved before manufacture, and you can only submit under categories and sell in channels that are on your agreement.

A complete submission usually includes:

• Product spec: category, SKU, materials and construction, country of origin.
• Mockups: multiple angles, high resolution, every colorway.
• Marks used: the specific logos, wordmarks or letters, placed according to the current style guide.
• Hangtag and packaging: with the required trademark notices and licensee statements.
• Pricing and channels: MSRP and where the product will sell.

Well-prepared college submissions through agencies like Affinity often come back within a few business days, but every revision adds another full cycle. Most bounces come from the same few causes: an outdated style guide, a color that's close but off-palette, a logo lockup or clear-space violation, missing trademark notices, or a channel that conflicts with an existing licensee.

When a design comes back, address every comment, resubmit clean files, and change only what was flagged. Our product approval workflow guide covers revision strategy in depth.

Fees and royalties: what's public

Affinity's costs come in layers, and only some of them are set by Affinity.

• Application fee. Non-refundable, and it buys a review, not a license. Check the current amount in Gateway when you apply. Across the industry, college application fees commonly fall in the low hundreds of dollars.
• Royalties. Set by each client in your agreement, not by Affinity across the board. Industry-wide, royalty rates on licensed product usually land somewhere in the 8-18% range of wholesale revenue, but your rate depends on the school or organization and the category.
• Advances and minimum guarantees. Many agreements include an advance against royalties and an annual minimum you owe whether you sell or not. These vary by client.
• Compliance costs. Insurance, samples, testing and labeling are real costs, and they repeat across properties.

What about Greek licensing costs?

The structure is the same: an application, then royalties and any advance or minimum set in the agreement. Because each fraternity and sorority is its own client, terms can differ from one organization to the next. Get the specific terms in writing for each organization before you design a line around it.

Run the math before you sign the third license, not the thirtieth. Royalties, minimums and per-property art and sample costs add up faster than most brands expect.

Reporting royalties to Affinity

Royalty reporting starts on the schedule in your agreement. Quarterly is the floor across the industry, and some licensors require monthly, so confirm Affinity's cadence and format during onboarding rather than assuming it matches CLC's.

A few habits keep reporting clean:

• Report on time, every period. Ask whether a report is required for periods with no sales. At CLC it is, and missing one has consequences.
• Report only in approved channels. Sales in a channel that isn't on your agreement create problems you'll have to explain.
• Keep records audit-ready. Most license agreements allow audits, and underreporting is the fastest way to lose a license.
• Track each client separately. If you hold several Affinity schools and Greek organizations, each one's sales and royalties need to reconcile on their own.

Common reasons Affinity applications stall

Some applications get denied. More of them just stall. The usual causes:

1. Fee paid, samples not sent, or the other way around. Review doesn't start without both.
2. Incomplete financials. The single biggest cause of application delays across licensors.
3. Insurance details. Missing additional insured wording, a claims-made policy where occurrence-based is expected, or "Included" where a dollar figure belongs.
4. Every sales channel selected. It reads as unfocused and gets requests denied on its own.
5. No proof of demand. Named retailers, presales and purchase orders beat any amount of description.
6. Only a supplier code of conduct. Schools expect a company code of conduct too.
7. A crowded category. If the client already has enough licensees in your category, ask for a narrow lane or pick an adjacent category.
8. A generic or recycled plan. Especially one that still names a different school.

A denial often means waiting six months or more before you can ask again, so it's worth getting the first request right. Our guide on why college license applications get denied covers each reason and the fix.

FAQ

What is Affinity Licensing?

Affinity Licensing is a licensing agency that manages trademark programs for more than 100 colleges and universities and most national fraternities and sororities. Brands apply through Affinity to use those marks on products, and each school or organization decides whether to approve them.

How do I log in to Affinity Gateway?

Affinity Gateway is Affinity's portal for brands. New brands create an account as part of the application; existing licensees log in with the credentials set up during onboarding. Keep the login under a shared company account so access doesn't depend on one person.

How much does an Affinity license cost?

There's a non-refundable application fee, listed in Gateway, and then royalties plus any advance or minimum guarantee set by each school or organization in your agreement. Industry-wide, royalties usually fall in the 8-18% range of wholesale revenue, but your rate depends on the client and category.

How much does Greek licensing through Affinity cost?

It follows the same structure as college licensing: an application, then royalties and any advance or minimum in the agreement. Each fraternity and sorority is its own client, so confirm terms with each organization before you plan a line.

Does a CLC license cover Affinity schools?

No. Each agency runs its own application, agreement and approval portal. A clean CLC track record does help your Affinity application, though, so list your current licenses.

How long does Affinity approval take?

It depends on how complete your packet is and how quickly each client decides. The clock doesn't start until Affinity has your fee and physical samples, so send both together and confirm they arrived.

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Affinity's requirements and fees change, and each school and Greek organization adds its own terms. Check the latest guidance in Gateway before you rely on a specific detail. If you'd rather have a team build the packet, ship the samples and work each client's approval, Onbase runs license acquisition from the first application to signed agreements.