West Virginia Univ., one of the few Division I schools that has kept its multimedia rights in-house over the years, on Friday issued an RFP to third parties for the management and sale of the athletic department's sponsorship and multimedia rights. Pre-qualification statements are due July 2, while final proposals must be submitted by Aug. 31. The selection process is expected to be completed by Oct. 19. The proposed term is for five years, with two continuous five-year renewal periods, beginning July 1, 2013. WVU Associate Dir for Business Development Tim Bostonia is listed as the contact. The RFP indicates that WVU "operated with annual royalty revenues averaging more" than $3.1M over the last year, although it does not indicate how much of that figure came from outside the sports program. In addition to media rights, the vendor will handle venue signage, event marketing, tickets, hospitality and other athletic department assets. Athletic apparel rights are not part of this RFP, and naming rights are not specifically mentioned. Meanwhile, multimedia rights for UNC-Charlotte and the Univ. of Rhode Island are each currently in the evaluation stage, as the RFP deadline for companies to make similar submissions was mid-May. Wichita State Univ. also is seeking a multimedia rights vendor.
