Dawgs' Bite: Mississippi State Inks 10-Year Deal With Learfield

Learfield Sports To Manage, Sell Multimedia And Sponsorship Rights For MSU For Next 10 Years

Mississippi State Univ. (MSU) and Learfield Sports have reached a 10-year partnership in which Learfield will establish Bulldog Sports Properties (BSP) to manage and sell all multimedia and sponsorship rights for MSU athletics beginning with the '08-09 school year. Rights include TV agreements for coaches’ shows and play-by-play opportunities, corporate sponsorships, coaches’ endorsements and official athletic Web site advertising. BSP will also oversee all signage at MSU athletic venues. MSU radio announcer Jim Ellis will serve as BSP GM (MSU). In Jackson, David Brandt reports terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the "guaranteed money will be used to help pay the salaries" of football coach Sylvester Croom, men's basketball coach Rick Stansbury and baseball coach John Cohen. MSU AD Greg Byrne “would not comment on whether [MSU’s] deal was comparable from a financial standpoint” to a 10-year deal worth a guaranteed $27M the Univ. of Mississippi signed with TeleSouth last year. Byrne said that he and former MSU AD Larry Templeton worked on the Learfield deal “for about a year.” MSU Senior Associate AD/Media Relations, Corporate Development Mike Nemeth said that football and men’s basketball radio rights “are still owned by TeleSouth for the next three years” (Jackson CLARION-LEDGER, 7/11).