A hometown partnership brings Norman-based Nextep to the hardwood, securing a prominent five-year branding presence on the Lloyd Noble Center court for both Sooner basketball programs
Oklahoma basketball is about to look a little different at home, and the change is coming from right down the road in Norman.
The University of Oklahoma Athletics Department and Learfield’s Sooner Sports Properties announced a new multi-year partnership with Nextep that will put the company’s branding on the court at Lloyd Noble Center beginning with the 2026-27 season.This is a basketball-only deal.
The Nextep logo will appear on the playing surface for all Oklahoma men’s and women’s home games. No football jersey patch. No baseball signage package dressed up as something bigger. Just a highly visible on-court presence inside Lloyd Noble for both basketball programs, with the added reach that comes from television broadcasts and digital content around those games.
Oklahoma fans have been waiting for the next wave of modern athletic department revenue moves, especially after watching other programs race into jersey-patch deals and denser commercial inventory. The Sooners still have not named a jersey-patch sponsor. Athletic director Roger Denny has already said publicly that Oklahoma is being deliberate and wants the right partner, not just the first available logo.
This Nextep agreement does not change that. It is a separate play, centered on basketball and the court itself.
The length of the deal is five years. Financial terms were not disclosed, which is standard for these announcements. What Oklahoma did make clear is the value of having a Norman-based company take one of the most visible inventory pieces in the building.
Nextep was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Norman, so this is not some random national brand renting space on the floor for a season and disappearing. It is a local company with a national footprint buying into both Sooner basketball programs in a long-term way.
Marcus Bowman, Oklahoma’s Deputy AD for Business Development and Revenue Generation, framed it as exactly that kind of partnership. “We are extremely grateful to Brian Fayak and the Nextep team for their significant investment in Oklahoma Athletics and our men’s and women’s basketball programs,” Bowman said.
“Having the Nextep brand prominently represented on our court is a powerful reflection of this partnership and our shared commitment to excellence. As we continue to grow our commercial opportunities, we take great pride in partnering with companies that were built here in Oklahoma and share our passion for this university, this community and our state.”
That local angle is the cleanest part of the announcement. College athletics is going to keep chasing every available revenue stream. The better versions of those deals still have some identity to them. A Norman company on the Lloyd Noble court fits better than another generic patch that could have landed anywhere from the Big 12 to the ACC.
Nextep gets the visibility. Oklahoma gets a partner that already understands the market, the fan base, and the value of being tied to the university in a permanent-looking way.
Nextep CEO and founder Brian Fayak leaned into that same idea. “As an Oklahoma-founded company with a wide-reaching national brand, partnering with OU Athletics and its historical basketball programs is a very natural alignment for us,” Fayak said.
“This partnership celebrates two organizations dedicated to winning and innovation on a national scale, while staying fiercely committed to the community that made us.”
Nextep’s actual business is less flashy than a court logo, which is part of why the deal works. The company is an IRS-certified Professional Employer Organization that helps small and mid-sized businesses handle HR, payroll, benefits, compliance, and the administrative load that eats up time and money. In other words, it is a company built on infrastructure and reliability. Those are not bad themes to attach to a basketball program trying to stabilize its home environment and commercial presence at the same time.
Kelly Collyar, vice president and general manager of Sooner Sports Properties, called the court placement a highly visible platform for Nextep to reach Sooner fans while also creating ways to engage student-athletes and support both programs. That is the other half of these deals now. The logo is the headline. The content, brand collaborations, and athlete-facing activations are how companies try to make the partnership feel like more than floor paint.
For Oklahoma, the broader context is obvious. The athletic department is navigating the same financial pressure everybody else is: roster costs, facility needs, recruiting realities, and a commercial market that no longer leaves much inventory unused. Denny’s patience on a jersey-patch partner suggests Oklahoma still thinks it can command a premium and does not want to undersell one of the last big untouched assets.
Putting Nextep on the court at Lloyd Noble is a more contained decision. It monetizes basketball inventory without forcing the department into a football-facing sponsorship it is not ready to accept yet.
There is also a practical basketball side to it. Home-court branding packages only matter if people actually show up and the product on the floor gives the building energy. Oklahoma men’s and women’s basketball both need Lloyd Noble to feel like an advantage again, not just a venue with better signage. A new on-court partner does not fix roster construction or style of play. It does signal that the department is still packaging the sport seriously and trying to grow revenue around it.
The announcement is clean. Five-year deal. Norman company. Men’s and women’s basketball. Logo on the court starting in 2026-27. No need to overtrade it into something it is not.
Oklahoma still has larger commercial questions to answer, especially on the football side. This one is simpler.
When the Sooners tip off at home next season, Nextep is going to be hard to miss.
