College sports marketers Learfield Sports and ISP Sports, which through the years have formed joint ventures to secure multimedia marketing rights at several college athletic departments, have split up some of their accounts.
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| Learfield becomes sole rights holder at Missouri, and ISP at Syracuse and Villanova. All were previously jointly held properties. |
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Beginning with the 2003-04 fiscal year, which began July 1, Learfield became the sole marketing rights holder at Missouri, while ISP became the sole rights holder at Syracuse and Villanova. Learfield and ISP still work jointly on four accounts: Clemson, Miami, South Carolina and Alabama.
The decision to split up three of the seven jointly held properties made sense for the companies geographically, said ISP President Ben Sutton, who added that the split does not mean the relationship between the two companies is any less strong.
Learfield Sports, a division of Learfield Communications, which is based in Jefferson City, Mo., has a concentration of properties in the Midwest, while ISP, based in Winston-Salem, N.C., has its concentration of properties in the East.
"Travel for senior management and others got to be a burden," Sutton said. "If we had two or three other properties together in the Midwest and another two or three in the Northeast, it would have made more sense."
On its own, Learfield represents 10 other schools, while ISP has 11 other athletic department clients.
Sutton said the two companies would continue to seek joint ventures when they made sense. Neither he nor Learfield officials would reveal financial ramifications of the changes.
