Five U Sports football programs are heading back to class in style, after partnering with iconic Toronto rapper Drake for a new merchandise line.
The Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks, McMaster Marauders, McGill Redbirds, Western Mustangs, and York Lions are the schools included in the latest offering for Drake’s official clothing brand, October’s Very Own. They announced their new campus collection via Instagram on Thursday, marketing it as a melding of “historic Canadian campuses” and “modern design” with flashy layouts for new t-shirts, sweatshirts, rugby polos, hats, and varsity jackets. Memorabilia from each school’s football team was featured prominently in the advertisement for the line that will release on Friday, August 29.
This isn’t the first time that Drake has paid tribute to Canadian schools, as Western and the University of Toronto were featured alongside Yale, Stanford, and Cambridge in the first campus collection in 2024. The OVO brand has also recently expanded its offerings to include Canadian football, partnering with the CFL on a merchandise line in June. Seven of the 20 products offered during that launch have already sold out, according to the company’s website.
October’s Very Own was launched in 2011 as a partnership between Drake and his tour manager, Oliver El-Khatib, who remains the company’s CEO. They have since partnered with some of the biggest brands in the world, including Air Jordan and Disney, while maintaining a distinctly Canadian flair. Major sports brands, including the NHL, NFL, NBA, WNBA, UFC, the NCAA, and RedBull Racing, all have an official line of OVO clothing.
Drake is the highest-certified digital singles artist in history and holds the record for the most Billboard Top 100 songs ever (358), as well as the most top 10 hits (80). He is best known for songs like “Started From The Bottom,” “Hotline Bling”, and “First Person Shooter.” The 38-year-old has been a controversial figure in the music industry lately, engaging in a public beef with Kendrick Lamar that culminated with him getting openly dissed during the Super Bowl halftime show last year.
The 2025 U Sports football season kicked off last week. Of the five teams featured in OVO’s new line, McMaster was the only one not to win their opener, losing to York.
