Univ. Of Arkansas, ISP Sports Agree To 10-Year Multimedia Rights Deal

ISP Sports To Manage Arkansas Media Rights

The Univ. of Arkansas (UA) and ISP Sports have agreed to a 10-year deal beginning with the '08 football season that "will allow ISP to establish Arkansas Sports Properties and manage all multimedia rights for Arkansas' athletic program," according to Tim Cooper of the ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE. UA will be "guaranteed $73[M] during the run of the contract." The $5.7M in the first year of the deal "represents a 67[%] increase in comparison to the $3.4[M] generated last year." ISP "will manage certain media rights that were once managed by the school's athletic department staff," including "athletic venue signage, printed materials such as game programs" and UA's official athletic website, ArkansasRazorbacks.com. Under the deal,  KATV-ABC "has given up the sports rights for the university, but it remains as the flagship station that will carry television coverage of the Razorbacks." ISP currently has deals with more than 40 schools (ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE, 8/14). ISP CEO Ben Sutton said that the company "expects to lose money in the early years of the contract." UA AD Jeff Long added that profits from PPV showings are "outside of the guaranteed amount and will be split 50-50 between [UA] and ISP" (Springdale MORNING NEWS, 8/14).