The Univ. of Texas has had the "most lucrative college sports empire in the country for the past decade," but few people likely know that IMG College has been "helping to drive this exponential growth in empire building at Texas and dozens of other campuses," according to a front-page piece Bruce Selcraig of the SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS. IMG has "been a global sports marketer and talent agent that dominates its industry yet remains largely invisible" to the casual fan. The school's '15 annual report shows that with "some 21 corporate sponsorships alone, including giants AT&T, Coca-Cola and UPS, IMG helped generate" nearly $32M for UT's athletics department in '14 in "royalties, advertising and sponsorships." Ticket sales "brought in the lion’s share for all sports," at $53.6M. For UT men's AD Steve Patterson, who some alumni and faculty believe has "over-commercialized the Longhorn brand in a quest for athletic supremacy, all of the IMG-driven sponsorships, the blaring electronic stadium signage, the Rudy’s BBQ miniblimp dropping coupons on disgruntled UT basketball fans ... is not just some necessary evil in the escalating college athletic arms race." Patterson: "I love what I’m doing. I don’t think we should be ashamed. Sometimes you have to think like the pros, and that shocks some people when I say that." But UT professor Thomas Palaima said, "All this marketing and globalization of big-time sports entertainment based at public universities has invaded and transformed the whole politeia of the university." Selcraig wrote the marketers "usually try to distance themselves from what some of them dismiss as an academic debate." They "simply are the dealmakers, industry executives reason." They "merely tap into what is already fanatical college sports devotion and team loyalty and then share the wealth with grateful, usually cash-strapped, colleges that often have to subsidize athletics." IMG this year took 17% of what it "raised for UT athletics and paid the school" a $2.26M annual-rights fee (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, 9/13).
ARE YOU EXPERIENCED? In Austin, Brian Davis wrote UT officials believe the school has a "new, better fan experience" for the '15 football season. Fans can now "experience a new fan fest in the north end zone at Royal-Memorial Stadium four hours prior to kickoff." UT’s in-stadium atmosphere "needed a big makeover" after a season-ticket survey last fall "found that UT’s overall gameday experience rated a mediocre 6.6 on a 10-point scale." Turnkey Intelligence said that the national leader "was 8.6." Patterson and UT Senior Associate AD & CRO Steve Hank both said that they "spent the entire offseason thinking about stadium upgrades, better food choices and, yes, beer." They "quickly decided to kill Jet Pack Guy, a loud pre-game spectacle that looked great once but lost its luster on the sixth appearance." Patterson: "We took a lot of fan surveys, got a lot of feedback. One of the things our fans said was they wanted to see more local food and experiences." UT over the summer "signed an agreement" with Alabama-based hospitality company Tailgate Guys. The school under the terms of the deal gets 39% of "net revenue taken in by Tailgate Guys" (AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 9/12).
WHERE THERE'S SMOKE...: HORNS DIGEST's Chip Brown cites sources as saying that while UT President Gregory Fenves "hasn't reached a final conclusion in his evaluation" of Patterson, he is "strongly considering parting ways" with the AD (HORNSDIGEST.com, 9/14). See Closing Bell for more on this story.
