Learfield Sports Secures Multimedia Rights for SMU

Southern Methodist University (SMU) have announced a seven-year athletic multimedia rights agreement with Plano-based Learfield Sports.

The exclusive partnership is effective immediately and will officially commence with the start of football and the 2013-14 athletic season.

Learfield Sports, impotent a prominent leader in the collegiate multimedia rights space with a 40-year history and over 50 individual institutional and conference relationships, impotent will establish “Mustang Sports Properties” as the local entity to work directly with Hart and SMU athletics administration. In addition, the SMU in-house staff, which has been handling the university’s athletic rights, will be transitioning to the Learfield team and Mustang Sports Properties.

Learfield Sports’ Mustang Sports Properties will manage every aspect of the comprehensive rights relationship that includes signage, sponsorships, corporate hospitality, event marketing, play-by-play radio, television and radio coaches’ shows, and official athletic website advertising.

“When we made the decision to outsource our rights, our goal was to select a leader in collegiate multimedia rights as our partner,” said SMU Director of Athletics Rick Hart. “I trust and respect Learfield and could not be more pleased they agreed to run alongside us. Learfield is the right choice for SMU moving forward, especially with their corporate offices nearby in Plano, and we anticipate a successful, fruitful relationship over the next seven years. This is exciting news for Mustang Athletics.”

“There’s no question we’ve developed a unique relationship with Rick over the years, and we couldn’t be more excited to again have the opportunity to work closely with him and to represent the Mustang brand on a local, regional and national level,” said Learfield Communications President and CEO Greg Brown. “SMU has a rich athletic tradition and is based in a very important market. Those attributes are fundamental to a successful sponsorship program and provide sponsors with great benefits.”

Learfield Sports now represents three American Athletic Conference schools – SMU, Memphis and Tulsa – and three universities in the state of Texas, with the Mustangs joining Texas A&M and Texas Tech.