Month: December 2020

Via Sports Business Journal

Georgia Tech has signed one of the most comprehensive rights partnerships in college sports in a long-term deal with Legends.

In a rare move, the Yellow Jackets combined their traditional multimedia rights, which includes corporate sponsorship, with ticket sales and marketing, premium seating sales, fundraising, events, hospitality and e-commerce. They are all included in the arrangement with Legends, with the hope of exceeding the school’s estimated $6 million per year received from its current multimedia rights deal with Learfield IMG College.

“All of their revenue streams are going to be flowing in the same direction now,” said Michael Behan, Legends’ vice president of sales. “It’s probably a first-of-its-kind deal in college sports.”

The Yellow Jackets previously outsourced the rights to different partners. In addition to the Learfield deal for multimedia rights, The Aspire Group had ticketing, Fanatics handled e-commerce and Georgia Tech managed seating and events in-house.

Now, all of those revenue-generating functions will be under one umbrella with Legends, which is making an aggressive push into the college rights space with more deals expected to be announced soon. Financial terms with Georgia Tech were not released. The Learfield deal is in its final year, with Legends assuming the rights on July 1, 2021. The structure of the Legends deal is believed to be a guarantee plus revenue sharing on its sales.

Chicago-based Navigate consulted with Georgia Tech’s athletic department on the deal.

“Timing is everything, and it’s really exciting to know that we’re going to have a partner like Legends developing a revenue strategy with us as we’re coming out of COVID,” Georgia Tech Athletic Director Todd Stansbury said.

Stansbury, a Tech alum who played linebacker on the football team, wasn’t convinced that this was the best time to take Tech’s multimedia rights to market. But the school’s contract with Learfield IMG College was near an end, and the Yellow Jackets had to make a move, pandemic or not.

Stansbury was pleasantly surprised by the response from the marketplace. Seven companies submitted bids for the Yellow Jackets’ rights, some of which included a guarantee while others were straight revenue-share.

“COVID complicated matters,” Stansbury said. “This is not the kind of decision you want to make from Zoom calls, but that’s what we had to do. Now we can pull all of our revenue levers at once and have them working in conjunction.”

It remains to be seen what kind of revenue increase Legends can generate for the Jackets. Two clear challenges are programming more events at Bobby Dodd Stadium and creating more premium spaces at the stadium, which was built in 1913.

Georgia Tech has sold all of its football premium seating and needs more inventory. CSL, Legends’ project planning business, will review the fan experience at Tech’s football and basketball venues.

“The financial implications of COVID on the schools are well-documented,” Behan said. “Schools are willing to step back and have conversations about revenue and reimagining how they’re going to do that.”

Stansbury’s senior leadership team of Deputy AD Mark Rountree, Senior Associate AD Ayo Taylor-Dixon and CFO Marvin Lewis were involved in the negotiations. Legends also has a joint venture with JMI Sports at Notre Dame for multimedia rights.

Via SportsPro Media

US college sports’ Georgia Tech Athletic Association (GTAA) has announced a ‘first-of-its-kind’, multifaceted partnership with sales and experiential agency Legends.

The deal incorporates opportunities across multimedia rights, premium seating, ticketing, annual fundraising, corporate hospitality, data analytics, business intelligence, and ecommerce, essentially bringing all of the Yellow Jackets’ revenue streams under one umbrella.

As part of the deal, Legends will introduce a technology, data, and analytics platform to provide Georgia Tech with greater insights into its fans, including a complete view of their relationship to the athletic department, specific interests, brand affinities, behaviours, and how to most effectively engage.

In addition, CSL, Legends’ project planning consultancy, will carry out a market study to evaluate the overall fan experience and identify opportunities at Bobby Dodd Stadium, which is the Division One school’s football venue, and McCamish Pavilion, where the college’s basketball teams play.

Speaking to the Atlanta Business Chronicle, which reported that the deal will run for 11 years from July, Georgia Tech athletics director Todd Stansbury said the two parties expect the partnership to generate more than US$400 million over the course of the arrangement.

“Georgia Tech fans and corporate partners will benefit from the expertise that Legends brings in designing, planning, and implementing world-class experiences,” Stansbury added in a statement. “I couldn’t be more excited to begin this first-of-its-kind partnership and for the bright future for Georgia Tech athletics, our fans, and our corporate partners.”

The deal signals the end of Georgia Tech’s long-term association with Learfield IMG College, whose multimedia rights deal with the school expires in June.

It also sees Legends expand its college client portfolio, which includes partnerships with the University of Notre Dame and San Diego State University.

“This past year has introduced new challenges in the collegiate athletics landscape, and we believe the path forward will require a strong vision and modernised approach,” added Mike Behan, vice president of collegiate partnerships for Legends.

“In collaboration with the athletic department’s innovative leadership team, Legends will engage our entire 360-degree platform – with deep acumen across partnerships, ticketing and premium seating, fundraising, corporate hospitality, retail, and technology – to create a customised, long-term blueprint for growing the business and creating memorable experiences for Yellow Jacket fans.”

Via Atlanta Business Chronicle

Georgia Tech athletics department signed an 11-year multimedia rights deal with sports hospitality management company Legends. The new agreement is set to begin in July, with Legends becoming Tech’s exclusive corporate partnership and multimedia rights partner.

Tech agreed to a multi-faceted partnership with Legends, where the company will be involved across a variety of business areas from ticketing (premium seating) and e-commerce, to assisting the association with fundraising efforts — which has become vital amid the ongoing pandemic.

Legends plans to integrate new technology and data analytics systems to bolster current revenue streams while finding other money-making opportunities. Georgia Tech Athletic Director Todd Stansbury and Legends anticipate the deal will generate over $400 million over its lifespan.

“Having someone with that experience and a track record of success in not only other markets but in revenue areas is really what gives me the confidence that this is going to be a great partnership and provide us with opportunities that we may not have had in the past,” Stansbury said.

This new agreement marks the end of Tech’s longtime partnership with Learfield IMG College, which has reportedly sought to restructure deals during the pandemic. Tech’s current media rights deal with IMG expires at the end of next June. Several full-service firms sought Tech’s multimedia rights despite budget shortfall across the industry, according to a source familiar with the situation. The association will lean on Legends to navigate the bevy of unknowns surrounding the college athletics landscape that ranges from the future of ticketing to student-athlete compensation.

Breaking the mold

Legends was co-founded in 2008 in joint venture between Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and owners of the New York Yankees. The New York-based company in the last decade has transformed itself from stadium concessionaire to a billion-dollar sports marketing business.

Legends has become more aggressive in college athletics — working in different capacities with high-profile programs including the University of Notre Dame and University of Oklahoma. Tech’s deal is unique, though, with Legends overseeing virtually all aspects of business, allowing the program to sync its revenue streams under one umbrella.

This synergy is commonly found with professional sports teams, but intercollegiate athletic departments traditionally have these areas segmented between third-party companies.

“I think it just makes it so much easier,” Stansbury said. “So, when [Legends reps] are out there on the street, they have more assets in their back pocket and can coordinate those assets with potential corporate partners to fit what they’re looking for.”

Atlanta-based marketing firm Aspire Group is among the third-party companies impacted by this agreement with Legends. Tech said it remains in communication with all of its third-party contractors affected by the partnership about the transition.

The deal also coincides with the association’s push to upgrade athletic facilities across campus, including the Edge-Rice Center and Russ Chandler Baseball Stadium. Legends will be tasked with not only improving the fan experience at Bobby Dodd Stadium and McCamish Pavilion but also identifying corporate sponsors who want to be involved in major capital facility projects as well.

Legends, which recently added a safety consultant aspect to its business, bought facility marketer CSL International in 2011. CSL will reexamine the overall fan experience at Tech sporting venues using technology-based market studies.

“In order for Georgia Tech to continue to move forward and be a top-echelon program in the Power Five, it’s important to drive all revenue streams and add innovation to each of those,” said Mike Behan, Legends vice president of collegiate partnerships. “That made us a unique partner for them because of our acumen in those areas.”

‘It’s a prime location’

Legends has experience in the Atlanta market after previously working with Mercedes-Benz Stadium to oversee sales for tickets, suites and personal seat licenses. Tech looks to leverage Legends’ wealth of resources and knowledge in running franchises. Legends now returns to Atlanta where it sees untapped potential at Tech, especially with the campus located in the heart of one of the largest media markets in the country. The global company works with collegiate programs that have close proximity to large cities, but Tech is alone in that it’s located directly in a major city. This opens up a realm of possibilities, nearby top companies like Home Depot and The Coca-Cola Co.

“It’s such a prime location compared to other colleges out there,” Behan added. “Georgia Tech is situated in one of the biggest corporate cities in the country. I think there’s a lot of commercial and branding opportunities. We’re excited to get deeper in that market.”

Tech aims to revolutionize how college sports venues are used post COVID-19 by hosting an array of events outside of athletics and student programming. This means exploring new opportunities at these facilities like potentially turning Bobby Dodd Stadium into a year-round venue that hosts concerts, company outings and corporate events. Legends managed a similar business model for Mercedes-Benz Stadium and now looks to do the same for Tech.

Tech was originally scheduled to play Notre Dame at Mercedes-Benz Stadium to kick off its ‘Mayhem at MBS’ series this season, but those plans were put on hold due to the pandemic. Tech instead will begin the series in 2021 with an annual game at the stadium for the next six years.

With a new team soon to be on board, Tech can reposition what it wants that series to look like for its fans and donors. There’s likely to be more synergy in the rollout for that event with Tech bringing its new multimedia partner into the home of one of Legends’ former clients.

“That puts us on the fast track to really identifying how we make the most of that series,” Stansbury said.