Michigan State has long been known for handling its business in-house, including its multimedia rights and licensing. But the school did an about-face on the licensing front last week, signing Collegiate Licensing Co. to be its agent.
The Spartans have run their own licensing program for as long as they’ve had one, which was one reason CLC trumpeted the signing as one of the biggest in the company’s 30-plus year history. Until now, the school has run its licensing out of a university department, and athletics has had no oversight of the program.
CLC won the Michigan State business over Fermata Partners and Learfield Licensing, which are CLC’s two primary competitors in the space.
“What we found is that CLC has the resources and the services that we lacked,” said Samantha Stevens, Michigan State’s director of licensing, who joined the school six months ago after stints at Miami (Ohio) and Appalachian State.
Michigan State generated $4 million in licensing revenue last year, a number the school hopes will grow substantially with CLC’s aid. Of that total, 45 percent goes to athletics, meaning the Spartans count just under $2 million in revenue from licensing. The $4 million total would put Michigan State 10th on CLC’s 2014 rankings of the best-selling school brands. CLC represents close to 200 colleges.
Mark Hollis, Michigan State’s athletic director, was asked last week if the Spartans’ decision to outsource licensing could lead to outsourcing multimedia rights as well, but he said it would be a mistake to connect decisions about licensing and multimedia rights.
