U hopes to outsource Gophers' sales rights

The regents will vote next week on a 15-year contract with a Missouri firm for exclusive rights in new Gophers football stadium.

By CHIP SCOGGINS, Star Tribune

Last update: April 4, 2008 - 11:47 PM

The University of Minnesota and Learfield Communications have agreed to a 15-year contract extension worth $112 million that will give the Missouri-based company exclusive rights to sales of signs and corporate sponsorships at the new Gophers football stadium.

Learfield already handles broadcast rights for Gophers sports and advertising and sale of suites at Mariucci Arena and Williams Arena.

The new contract retains those same agreements but now also includes TCF Bank Stadium, although the university will sell the suites in the new stadium that is scheduled to open in 2009.

The university's Board of Regents will vote on whether to approve the deal at its meeting next week, although officials from the school and Learfield said the contract won't be finalized for a few more weeks.

"We feel very good about this," athletic director Joel Maturi said Friday.

"We're happy with our relationship with Learfield and feel like they are part of our family."

The school's relationship with Learfield, which began in 2003, is scheduled to run through the 2023-24 fiscal year. The deal allows both sides to renegotiate and/or terminate the agreement in 2016.

A study by Conventions, Sports & Leisure International, at the request of the university, found that a 15-year contract was the longest among schools who outsource broadcast and sponsorship.

However, none of the schools included in the analysis had renegotiation clauses in their contracts. "We don't know what the market will be like [in eight years]," Maturi said. "If the market explodes, we can sit down with Learfield and take a look at it."

School officials said the primary benefit from outsourcing is guaranteed money. Rather than hire its own sales staff and do its own legwork, the school knows how much revenue it will receive annually and can budget accordingly.

Learfield's Gopher Sports Properties staff, which includes six full-time salespeople plus general manager Greg Gerlach, can now package sales of sponsorships and advertising for all of the university's sports teams and venues, including TCF Bank Stadium.

The company owns rights to radio broadcasts, but WCCO's contract with Learfield has not been extended beyond the original seven-year deal the sides agreed to in 2006.

Here are some highlights:

• The university's decision to sell the suites at TCF Bank Stadium school was not unexpected. Wisconsin, which has a 12-year, $76 million contract with Learfield, also sells its suites at Camp Randall Stadium.

• The university will receive $6.08 million in 2009-10, which is up from $4.7 million under the previous deal. The contract tops out at $9.07 in 2023-24.

• If annual sales exceed a predetermined threshold -- $10,237,000 in the first year and escalating after that -- the two sides would split the extra revenue evenly.

Chip Scoggins • 612-673-4484

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