Learfield is "crossing the border from the athletic department to the other side of campus, where it is working with schools and brands to build universitywide partnerships," according to Michael Smith of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. The initiative is "called Campus+, a new division within Learfield that converts vendors and other businesses into campuswide corporate sponsors." Two Learfield schools, Louisville and Texas A&M, already have "agreed to Campus+ deals, while another dozen are in talks with Learfield about adding Campus+ to their multimedia rights deal." Learfield Chief Revenue Officer Andy Rawlings said that pretty soon, Campus+ will be an "integral part of every negotiation with new school clients or those seeking an extension." JMI Sports used campuswide marketing as an "effective tool when it won the rights" for the Univ. of Kentucky in '14. IMG and JMI subsequently "formed a joint venture focused on campuswide marketing." The idea is to "combine athletic assets, such as advertising, in-venue signage and tickets, with other inventory across campus to create more exposure for the partner and increase revenue for the rights holder." Learfield’s Campus+ intends to take the concept "even further." By creating what it calls strategic partnerships, Campus+ will "essentially facilitate a relationship between the sponsor and the school that goes well beyond the athletic rights that Learfield typically sells." Each Campus+ deal "includes athletic assets as part of the arrangement, which provides another source of revenue." Any one deal "wouldn’t be a huge score for Learfield, but if the company scales it across its 120 schools and multiple categories, it becomes easier to see the revenue potential" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 9/19 issue).
