Learfield, a media and data firm, has gained insight into NCAA tournament commerce as a result of regulatory changes regarding student athlete payments. Since July 2021, when student athletes became eligible for compensation for their name, image, and likeness (NIL), Learfield has processed over 22,000 payments from 12,000 brand partners. Cole Gahagan, Learfield's CEO, highlights the evolution from a single sports marketing economy per college to a broader one involving hundreds of athletes, thus reshaping local commercial landscapes and opportunities.
The overwhelming majority of college towns have been sports marketing economies of one for 70 or 80 years, and that sports marketing economy was the university... Now... you've gone from a sports marketing economy of one... to a sports marketing economy of 451 or 501.
Learfield has produced upwards of 22,000 payments for those athletes from its network of more than 12,000 brand partners.
After a brief period of observing how NIL would affect the sports marketing economy, Learfield has its answer.
During this tournament, for example, Learfield worked with NCAA partner Marriott Bonvoy on an in-arena campaign that put four student athletes' thoughts on tournament travel up on a video board.
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