Saluki Athletics and Learfield Sports announce partnership
02/14/2008 | 12:00:00 | General
Feb. 14, 2008
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Southern Illinois University has officially entered into a multimedia rights agreement with Learfield Sports, Saluki Director of Athletics Mario Moccia announced today. The seven-year deal, plus three option years, guarantees the school more than $5 million over the entire term.
For Learfield Sports, which manages similar rights for more than 40 collegiate properties and associations nationwide, SIU becomes its first property in the state of Illinois and first school in the Missouri Valley Conference. As part of the agreement, Learfield Sports will establish a locally based entity, known as "Saluki Sports Properties" to manage and sell Saluki Athletics' multimedia and sponsorship rights that include radio rights, corporate hospitality, print sponsorships, event marketing, certain television rights and official athletic Web site advertising.
"Learfield Sports is one of the industry leaders in the area of collegiate multi-media rights," said Moccia. "They will increase the exposure and professionalism of our corporate sponsor program and will generate a significant increase in annual revenue for the department of athletics."
Other universities represented by Learfield Sports include Alabama, Indiana, Iowa, Penn State, Memphis, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Stanford. SIU becomes the fifth Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) school to join the Learfield Sports' portfolio.
"When you look at the schools that are currently partnered with Learfield Sports, their interest in SIU speaks volumes about the strength of the Saluki program and the breadth of the Saluki Nation."
"Southern Illinois has an impeccable reputation and quality athletics operation, with extremely successful football and basketball programs," said Greg Brown, President of Learfield Sports. "We not only look forward to helping SIU enhance its visibility in the industry and among corporate America, but we're glad to have the opportunity to partner again with Mario, an outstanding professional whom we had the pleasure of working with when he was with Mizzou."
Moccia said the partnership with Learfield Sports will allow the current members of the marketing department to focus on promoting sports and selling single-game and season tickets.
Dallas-based Learfield Sports is an operating unit of Jefferson City, Mo.-based Learfield Communications, Inc., which made its initial foray into the world of sports marketing in 1975 as the radio rights holder for the University of Missouri, a client still today.
In addition to managing rights for more than 40 collegiate properties, Learfield Sports also manages the marketing partnerships for the Black Coaches & Administrators (BCA) and provides exclusive sports programming to more than 1,000 radio stations nationwide. Additionally, Team Services, LLC, a Learfield Sports company, specializes in venue naming rights, marketing research and sales consultation. For more information about the company and to see a complete listing of Learfield Sports' portfolio, visit learfieldsports.com.
