Univ. Of Georgia, ISP Ink Eight Year, $92.8M Multimedia Rights Deal
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UGA's Agreement With ISP Richest
Annual Deal In College Sports |
The Univ. of Georgia (UGA) Athletic Association has reached an eight-year, $92.8M agreement with ISP Sports to serve as its exclusive multimedia rights marketer beginning July 1. ISP currently manages UGA's sponsorship and marketing rights, which includes corporate sponsorships, presence marketing, print publications and corporate hospitality. Under a separate agreement, WSB-AM has managed the Athletic Association's radio and coach's TV show rights. ISP will assume the responsibility of radio and coaches TV show rights from WSB, as well as add additional TV and digital media rights. WSB will remain the flagship station of UGA for the term of the partnership (UGA). In Athens, Marc Weiszer notes the $11.6M per year UGA will receive from ISP for the multimedia rights tops the $11M annual payout Ohio State agreed to with IMG College earlier this year, which had been the "most lucrative deal" in college sports. UGA had been receiving about $8.2-8.3M annually under its previous agreements. UGA AD Damon Evans: "The thing that excites me is the fact of how we will be able to put our message out there, how we will be able to continue to provide the Georgia Bulldogs fan with additional coverage of Georgia programming; what we're doing, what's going on in the Athletic Association. We've always talked about building our brand. This deal will allow us to continue to move in that direction in bringing more brand awareness." Weiszer notes UGA will have a "new media department of six to eight people that will ramp up the Bulldogs' Internet offerings" at georgiadogs.com. The staffers "will be employed by ISP." UGA plans to produce its "own content to include more coverage of Olympic sports and stories written" about its athletic teams. Evans: "As technology changes and things move forward, there's always going to be new stuff coming down the pike. What we hope to do with this deal is to better position ourselves with the ever-changing technology and also to get our message out there through all the various modes of communication that we have today" (ATHENS BANNER-HERALD, 6/18). Univ. of Central Florida DeVos Sport Business Management Program Associate Dir Bill Sutton said of the deal, "I'm a little shocked at the number. I've got to give (Georgia) credit for getting it" (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 6/18).
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TOP COLLEGE MARKETING AND MEDIA RIGHTS DEALS
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SCHOOL
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VALUE
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YEARS
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AGENCY
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Nebraska*
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$112.5M
|
13
|
IMG College |
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Ohio State
|
$110M
|
10
|
IMG College |
| Florida |
$100M
|
10
|
IMG College, Sun Sports |
| North Carolina* |
$97.5M
|
13
|
Learfield Sports |
| Texas |
$94M
|
10
|
IMG College |
| Georgia |
$92.8M
|
8
|
ISP Sports |
| Michigan* |
$86M
|
12
|
IMG College |
| Arizona |
$80.4M
|
12
|
IMG College |
| Connecticut |
$80M
|
10
|
IMG College |
| Kentucky |
$80M
|
10
|
IMG College |
| Wisconsin |
$76M
|
12
|
Learfield Sports |
| Oklahoma* |
$75M
|
10
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Learfield Sports |
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ISP SPORTS' TOP COLLEGE DEALS
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SCHOOL
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VALUE
|
YEARS
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Georgia
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$92.8M
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8
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Arkansas
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$73M
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10
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| Arizona State |
$70M
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10
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| Florida State |
$66M
|
10
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| South Carolina* |
$59M
|
9
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| Auburn |
$51.3M
|
9
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NOTE: * = Part of an extension of previous deal
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