By BEN PORTNOY
In the ever-expanding search for revenue growth, Florida State has a new partner lined up.
FSU is set to announce a new 10-year multimedia rights agreement with Legends, AD Michael Alford and Legends President of College Mike Behan tell SBJ. An official announcement is expected Wednesday.
“It’s really the vision, where they’ve taken their company, following how successful they’ve been in other properties and growing those revenue streams,” Alford said of FSU’s decision in tapping Legends. “The biggest thing with Legends that I’ve found is they provide you solutions and they’re constantly going to assist you in guiding how you go about your daily business and how you grow your revenue streams.”
Legends has made significant plays in the college space in recent years, including MMR partnerships with Notre Dame, Miami and Georgia Tech. The FSU deal will be an expansion of an existing relationship between the two sides. The company supports premium seating for the $260 million renovation of Doak Campbell Stadium and manages hospitality for FSU athletics. The new deal will also include 10-12 staffers just in sponsorships — nearly double what previously existed.
Florida State previously worked with Learfield as its MMR partner.
“We’re aware the stakes are so much higher right now [in college],” Behan said. “Schools have to generate a heck of a lot more money. A lot of what’s historically been done, that may have worked in the past, but that’s really not what schools need going forward. There’s a lot of talk of professionalizing collegiate athletics and really focused on revenue generation and we feel like how our company is built and evolved over the years, it’s really set up perfectly for this opportunity right now.”
Revenue generation has become an increasingly prominent conversation around FSU in recent months. The school is locked in a lawsuit with the ACC stemming from, among other things, media revenues and the disparities between ACC member schools and those in the Big Ten and SEC. Senior school administrators in Tallahassee have also reportedly explored private equity investments, though those decisions aren’t necessarily imminent.
“When you look at the changing environment of the collegiate landscape, you have to look at what you can do to make up the difference to be able to support your student athletes at an elite level — and that’s looking at various new revenue streams that we haven’t looked at before,” Alford said. “I go back to our relationship [with Legends] on the premium sales side that we’re doing extremely well. We’ve had the best couple years we’ve ever had in concessions at [Doak Campbell Stadium] and throughout all of our athletic venues, and now [adding] the MMR side of things. We’re constantly going to be looking to be innovative in what we can bring to the table that makes sense for Florida State to drive those revenue streams.”
Sports Business Journal interview with Michael Alford, Vice President and Director of Athletics at Florida State, and Mike Behan, President, Legends
