Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

UNLV’s new multimedia partner will give athletic department revenue spike

UNLV vs. South Alabama

Stephen R. Sylvanie / SPECIAL TO THE SUN

Fireworks erupt from the gloves of UNLV Runnin’ Rebels mascot “Hey Reb” during pre-game festivities tonight at the Thomas & Mack as the Rebels host South Alabama on Friday night.

UNLV athletics has picked Learfield as its multimedia rights holder for the next 10 years, the university announced today.

Learfield will manage the university’s corporate partner program, signage inside stadiums and arenas, digital, television and radio broadcasts and the coaches’ shows. It replaces IMG, whose multiyear deal with UNLV ended this year.

The deal is worth $25 million more in total value and includes $16 million more in guaranteed revenue over the term than the previous multimedia rights deal. The total value of the deal was not released.

As an example of how the deal will work, UNLV basketball games will still be broadcast on a local radio station. But Learfield, not IMG, will manage the production — everything from negotiating which station games appear on, hiring announcers and advertising.

Learfield has multimedia rights relationships with 27 universities in the power five conferences, including Cal, Colorado, Oregon State, Stanford and Utah in the Pac-12, and Iowa State, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech in the Big 12, according to UNLV. It also holds rights with eight other Mountain West schools — Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, UNR, New Mexico, San Jose State, Utah State and Wyoming.

“We look forward to this partnership,” UNLV Athletics Director Desiree Reed-Francois said in a statement. “Learfield is a nationally recognized leader in multimedia rights and understands the memorable fan experience we are trying to provide to our UNLV community. Learfield’s strong reputation for hard work, creativity and attention to detail is in alignment with the culture we are building within the athletics department. We continually look for ways to grow revenue in supporting our student-athletes and championship expectations, and we appreciate Learfield’s commitment to that responsibility.”

Ray Brewer can be reached at 702-990-2662 or [email protected]. Follow Ray on Twitter at twitter.com/raybrewer21

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy