Learfield Sports is combining two of its recent acquisitions to form a new licensing unit.
Learfield Licensing Partners is the sum of Licensing Resource Group and Strategic Marketing Affiliates, two smaller businesses that Learfield acquired in 2014 and will now merge into one. Both the LRG and SMA names will gradually go away.
“We didn’t want to keep them separate when they’re working in the same space,” said Greg Brown, Learfield’s president and CEO.
The combined entity will have the licensing rights to more than 500 colleges, mostly smaller schools outside of the five major conferences. But there are a handful of schools, such as Kansas State, Iowa State, Mississippi State and Baylor, that came over with LRG and will become clients in the new Learfield Licensing Partners.
The licensing unit will compete for business at all levels in a space that is increasingly competitive. IMG’s Collegiate Licensing Co. has long been the industry leader, but it has felt some heat from Fermata Partners, which recently won the rights at Georgia, Kentucky, Miami and Oregon.
Because LRG and SMA’s client base is made up of mostly smaller schools, “people tend to put these guys in a box, but we’ve got some of the big five schools,” Brown said. “They just haven’t had the resources to land as many of those as they’d like.”
Learfield has been in a buying frenzy for the last year, acquiring multimedia rights holder Nelligan Sports and Sidearm Sports, a digital business, in addition to the licensing agencies.
Providence Equity Partners bought Learfield in 2013 for close to $500 million and provided the company with the resources to grow. In addition to its core business in multimedia rights, where Learfield now has more than 90 college clients, it also has units in licensing, digital, concessions and hospitality, and ticketing.
Brown said the Plano, Texas-based company will focus its licensing growth primarily on the schools where Learfield already has relationships.
“Where we’re focused is on the schools where we have the multimedia rights, where we can provide a full suite of services and really leverage the relationships that exist,” Brown said.
Having both the licensing and multimedia rights should help both revenue lines grow, Brown said. For example, retailers that are distribution points for licensed gear also would be good candidates for corporate sponsorships, signage or radio advertising that’s offered through multimedia sales.
“We see these as very complementary businesses, especially with major retail partners,” Brown said. “Those are opportunities we can unlock.”
Lewis Hardy, one of LRG’s founders, will serve as chairman of Learfield Licensing Partners. Bob Bernard will lead the newly combined team as president and CEO. Both will report to Learfield COO Marc Jenkins.
The rest of the senior leadership team in licensing includes Wil Spires, executive vice president of licensee and retail development; John Mybeck, executive vice president of brand management; Tony Johnson, executive vice president of business development; and Michael Van Wieren, senior vice president of administration.
