The University of Illinois Division of Intercollegiate Athletics and Learfield announced Tuesday a first-of-its-kind partnership that will embed Learfield’s sponsorship and Learfield Impact NIL services and staff directly into the Illinois athletic department.
According to Leafield's announcement, "the combination of these services and the tight integration of resources will drive sponsorship revenue and grow NIL opportunities for student-athletes during a pivotal time in college athletics."
The partnership extends Illinois Athletics’ 12-year relationship with Learfield through a multiyear agreement.
“There is a new era of college sports, and this is the perfect opportunity for us to reimagine our business with an innovative approach at a time when revenue and NIL services are paramount in our industry,” Illinois athletic director Josh Whitman said. “This model gives us the experience, momentum, and expertise from Learfield with tightly integrated operations into our athletics department. This groundbreaking partnership positions us for success and will benefit our student-athletes and fans.”
Tom Moreland, chief commercial officer for Illinois Athletics, will oversee strategy and revenue generation for the integrated team. Rob Louthain will continue as general manager, driving sponsorships, revenue, real NIL opportunities for student-athletes, and brand partner activation. Learfield’s dedicated, on-site staff will continue to grow sponsor partnerships, optimize local and regional sponsor opportunities, and drive revenue for Illinois Athletics.
“We are excited to reimagine a new partnership model with Josh and his talented team to help grow their business to address the rapidly evolving of landscape of college athletics,” said Kim Damron, Learfield’s president of sports properties. “This partnership allows us to closely collaborate and deliver revenue growth and next-level Learfield Impact NIL services in lockstep with the Illinois athletics department.”
Key provisions of the partnership include:
- Illinois Athletics will leverage Learfield Impact NIL services with additional NIL business development leaders and a Learfield Studios content creator.
- Illinois will continue to leverage Learfield’s Fanbase, the largest data platform in college athletics, to learn fan insights, develop profiles to engage Illini fans, sell more tickets, and maximize brand partner opportunities.
- Illinois Athletics will continue to work with Learfield’s corporate partnership team, which has relationships with the world’s most prominent brands and agencies.
- Illinois Athletics will continue to take advantage of Learfield’s digital marketing solution, Fan365, which will deliver brand partner messages to Illini fans every day of the year based on their affinities and interests.
- Illinois Athletics will continue to tap into Learfield’s enterprise-wide solutions, including CLC for licensed merchandise, Paciolan for ticketing and fundraising technology, SIDEARM Sports for its fan engagement platform, and Learfield Amplify for seating solutions.
