Harvard University athletics has reached an agreement for IMG College to build the Crimson’s corporate sponsorship program.
The Ivy League school in the past has sold sponsorships through an in-house sales team. IMG College is being brought in exclusively to build a deeper program with a short list of blue-chip national companies.
Bob Scalise, Harvard’s athletic director, said IMG College is charged with finding “a select group of premier sponsors that are a unique and distinctive fit with Harvard and its supporters.”
The deal with Harvard is unconventional compared with most of IMG College’s multimedia rights deals, which typically include radio, print, hospitality, in-venue signage and other rights.
“We’re not going to splash signage all over campus,” said Mark Dyer, IMG College’s senior vice president and chief innovation officer. “Everything we do will be in keeping with the Harvard brand.”
Terms of IMG College’s deal with Harvard were not available, but deals like this typically involve a revenue share, based on sales.
