Failed Delivery: UPS Exercises Option To End NCAA Partnership After Six Years

UPS has "decided to exit its NCAA partnership after six years," according to Michael Smith of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. The company "confirmed that its current contract with the NCAA expires in August and will not be renewed." Turner Sports and CBS "jointly manage and sell the NCAA’s marketing rights." A company spokesperson said that UPS is "going through a review of its sponsor relationships" and that the NCAA deal "didn’t fit with an upcoming shift in marketing and communications strategy." Smith reports UPS originally signed its NCAA partnership in '10 and "renewed it two years ago." The company "exercised an option in most recent contract to exit the deal." It "remains to be seen whether UPS will continue with its heavy ad buy around March Madness on Turner and CBS in the future." UPS, a "heavy investor in college sports over the past decade, used the NCAA tournament for years as a platform to highlight its logistics expertise" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 4/11 issue). The move comes less than a month after Burger King ended its sponsorship of the NCAA after two years (THE DAILY).