A March Madness tradition came to an end in Indianapolis. Learfield Sports and IMG College, which since 2002 had jointly staged one of the biggest industry parties on the Friday night of the Final Four, parted ways.
The party between the two competitors in the multimedia rights space had come to symbolize the quirky relationship between the two companies, which routinely compete for college business but occasionally work together on sales and ticketing.
It was the deep friendship between their two leaders — Learfield President and CEO Greg Brown and IMG College President Ben Sutton — that led them to come together once a year to celebrate with all their friends in one space at the Final Four.
Learfield and IMG College both have been bought and sold in recent years. Eventually new ownership interests prevailed — WME bought IMG and Providence Equity acquired Learfield — and they agreed to hold separate parties.
The events couldn’t have been more different.
Historic Hinkle Fieldhouse at Butler University was the site for Learfield’s basketball-themed party, which featured Chuck Taylor accents and black-and-white Final Four highlights playing overhead on the video board. St. Elmo’s classic shrimp cocktails were the hit of the night.
About 10 minutes away, the IMG College event had a completely different vibe. Country music star Brad Paisley rocked at a decibel level incompatible with casual conversation. The joint was jumping at Indianapolis’ Scottish Rite Cathedral, a popular party spot in town. Worth noting: Paisley is represented by WME, IMG’s parent company, and a huge IMG logo lit up on stage behind the singer.
WME-IMG global COO Jason Lublin, who has been especially active in the college business over the last year, welcomed just about everyone who entered and thanked them for coming.
Two parties, two companies, two completely different feels. But Brown and Sutton say they’re as friendly as ever and will continue to work together when it makes sense.
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RIGHT ON KEY: The best untold and maybe underappreciated story of the Final Four, according to the NCAA’s Mark Lewis, was the quartet of student athletes who sang the national anthem prior to the semifinal games. The NCAA’s Carrie Snyder came up with the idea, and each of the four schools submitted a student. The foursome performed after just one extended practice together in Indianapolis.
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The Final Four anthem quartet was the idea of the NCAA’s Carrie Snyder.
Photo by: GETTY IMAGES
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With a window of less than a week to prepare, Duke football player
Deion Williams, Michigan State soccer player
Michelle Dear, Kentucky soccer player
Kennedy Collier and Wisconsin basketball player
Vitto Brown met on Skype to rehearse.
Lewis, the NCAA’s executive vice president of championships and alliances, said there has been an intentional effort to do more to spotlight and support student athletes, including this performance for the first time.
The NCAA also distributed about $420,000 to the families of athletes to cover travel costs to the men’s and women’s Final Four for the first time. Family members also have been moved closer to the court so they’d have better seats.
“This is what the championship experience is supposed to be about,” Lewis said. “It should be as memorable as possible. Not everyone realizes that they’re not just great athletes, but very accomplished people, too.”
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NEXT YEAR’S PRICING: PrimeSport, the NCAA’s official hospitality partner, has already posted prices for the 2016 Final Four in Houston. A package that includes tickets to all three games plus VIP hospitality starts at just under $1,000 and goes up to $11,000 for a midcourt seat. Hospitality passes enable the buyer to enter the stadium 30 minutes earlier than other gates and have access to open food and drink.
Sam Soni, PrimeSport’s president and CEO, said sales were up in Indianapolis, in part, because PrimeSport also staged the parties and pep rallies for all four teams. While Kentucky’s Big Blue Nation made its presence known around town, more than 80 percent of PrimeSport’s sales were completed by the time the Final Four teams were known.
