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Sidearm Sports adding bigger schools to roster after acquisition by Learfield Sports

At least 19 colleges, including several from the power five conferences, plan to shift their digital rights to Sidearm Sports, the technology company owned by Learfield Sports.

Learfield clients Indiana, Texas A&M and Louisville are moving digital rights to Sidearm.
Photo by: GETTY IMAGES (3)
Sidearm historically has built its portfolio of digital rights on the strength of mostly smaller schools, but that’s about to change with a flurry of new deals that will add Illinois, Indiana, Iowa State, Louisville, Missouri, Northwestern, Oklahoma State and Texas A&M to Sidearm’s client base.

Each of those new power five schools also has its multimedia rights with Learfield, whose acquisition of Sidearm last July put the company in position to bring these schools’ digital rights under one Learfield umbrella, rather than outsourcing to other providers,

The new schools give Sidearm close to 800 colleges, high schools and conferences in all, but more importantly it provides Sidearm the resources and relationships to be a more relevant player for digital rights at the highest levels of Division I.

“Learfield has opened the door for us to have these conversations. That’s all we need,” said Jeff Rubin, Sidearm’s president and CEO who stayed on with the company after the sale to Learfield last summer.

The opening for their digital rights came up through expiring contracts with their former digital partner — six of the major schools were with CBS Interactive, while two others had deals with NeuLion, the two industry leaders.

For the schools, their transition to Sidearm likely will come with a redesign of the official athletic website and mobile platform, the company said. Digital rights can extend to mobile apps and social media interactions as well. Sidearm also will install its content management system, which is the back-end system for video, stats, social media and mobile content.

Social media content from Sidearm client Temple
By combining the digital rights and multimedia rights essentially with one company, Learfield can create a digital ad network to sell against. That was more difficult to do in the past, Learfield COO Marc Jenkins said, when digital rights were splintered among CBS or NeuLion.

“We can take a much more optimized approach to packaging digital in multimedia rights, and doing more to turn that digital content into ad inventory,” Jenkins said.

Sidearm, founded in 1996 and based in Syracuse, N.Y., will seek relationships with schools outside of the Learfield network as well. Among the new colleges joining Sidearm is Wichita State, a school that has its multimedia rights with CBS Collegiate Sports Properties but has its licensing with Learfield Licensing Partners.

“What’s evident is that school websites have tapped into about 25 percent of their potential,” said Joe Ferreira, Learfield’s chief content officer, who works with Rubin and Jenkins to move these schools over to Sidearm. “There’s mostly been a cookie-cutter approach used in the past, but content is going to be key in the future.”

Traditionally, Sidearm has used a fee-based model that charges schools anywhere from $10,000 to $40,000 a year for its services. But the company also employs a revenue-share model, which is what most of the larger schools are accustomed to.

Outside of the power five, Sidearm is adding Army, Memphis, Montana, Northern Iowa, South Dakota, Toledo and Tulsa as well. Four more schools are set to make the switch, Sidearm said, but their deals are not finalized and the names of the schools could not yet be released.

Learfield acquired Sidearm last July in an all-cash transaction for an undisclosed amount. It was one of several acquisitions Learfield made in the past year to broaden its business into new areas. It didn’t previously have a digital competency.

Learfield has extended business lines into licensing, LED digital signage and concessions. “We’ve found some critical areas that really fit within the philosophy and culture of what we do,” Jenkins said.

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