The ACC is considering a title sponsor for its tradition-rich men’s basketball tournament.
Commissioner John Swofford said he has been in recent discussions with the conference’s presidents and athletic directors about selling a title sponsorship for the first time.
“There’s been a lot of thought given to it,” Swofford said. “It’s an excellent time to look at it, with us about to begin a new TV contract.”
The ACC’s new 12-year, $1.86 billion TV deal with ESPN begins in 2011-12, and if the conference decided to add a title sponsor, Swofford would like to make it coincide with the start of the new media contract.
The ACC tournament’s tradition
makes it “an A-plus property,”
one consultant said.
But the rights to an ACC tournament title sponsorship were not included in the deal with ESPN. The conference would either take that to market itself or hire an outside agency to sell it.
“There were rights that we retained, such as the basketball championship, satellite radio, licensing and merchandising rights, and some others,” Swofford said.
Title sponsorships to other conference tournaments typically sell for the low seven figures, depending on how much media is included, but ACC officials believe that the stature of their tournament should bring a premium. The ACC tournament was first held in 1954 and is considered the granddaddy of conference tournaments.
“With the tradition you see associated with the ACC tournament, it would have to be viewed as an A-plus property,” said Kevin O’Malley, a former Turner Sports and CBS executive who now consults with conferences. “It’s a different kind of sponsorship because the event itself is so brief — four days. The challenge with sponsorships like this is being able to spread out the impact of it.”
The six major NCAA Division I conferences appear to be split on the idea of a title sponsor for the basketball tournament. The Big 12 has an association with Phillips 66 as its title sponsor that dates to 1988, when the company was first signed as sponsor of the Big Eight tournament.
Pacific Life has been on the Pac-10’s title for eight years and recently renewed for two more.
The Big East has had New York Life and Aéropostale in the past and is seeking a title sponsor for its 2011 event.
The ACC and SEC have not offered the title deal, while the Big Ten has had presenting sponsors, including Cisco and State Farm, but not a title sponsor. CBS, which owns the rights to the Big Ten tournament, sells the presenting sponsorship.
The tournament title deals typically include integration into the tournament logo, hospitality, venue signs, promotional rights, online exposure and ad units with the broadcaster.
The ACC has a title sponsor for its football championship game in Dr Pepper, which has four years left on a deal that runs between $3 million and $4 million annually.
Rights to sell the title sponsorship for the football game were included in ESPN’s new deal, but basketball, if the conference goes that route, will be up for grabs.
“With sponsorships like this, the value proposition can be difficult to assess, but you’re talking about a prominent association with big-time college basketball,” O’Malley said of a potential ACC title deal. “Anybody with a fiduciary responsibility to these schools, knowing how tight the budgets are, has to be looking for incremental sources of revenue.”
