ST. LOUIS (Aug. 3, 2009) – The Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) officially has entered into a ten-year, exclusive relationship with collegiate sports marketer Learfield Sports, as announced today by MVC Commissioner Doug Elgin.

 

Learfield Sports will work closely with Elgin’s team through a St. Louis-based entity that will be called “MVC Sports Properties” to deliver strategic initiatives with the Conference, including management of all sponsorship rights to MVC championship events, as well as rights to the approximately 33-game television package on Fox Sports Midwest.

 

Effective with the 2010-11 season, Learfield Sports will spearhead numerous efforts for the Missouri Valley Conference to bolster its presence among corporate America and strengthen its brand among fans, alumni and the marketplace through media, corporate hospitality, venue exposure, branding opportunities and product sampling. Learfield Sports also will be an integral partner charged with creating corporate opportunities for the MVC Web site (mvc-sports.com), and managing promotions and certain retail licensing deals.

 

“We’re pleased to call Learfield Sports our partner and look forward to the great things ahead in which we can increase visibility for the MVC,” said Elgin. “We firmly believe that our schools on an individual basis, and collectively under the Conference umbrella, will benefit deeply from a proven leader like Learfield Sports. We are certainly excited to get started.”

 

Learfield Sports, which manages the respective multimedia rights for MVC member institutions Northern Iowa and Southern Illinois, will establish MVC Sports Properties and begin identifying a qualified, dedicated staff to service the Conference business moving forward.

 

“We recognize the tremendous synergies available to the Missouri Valley Conference, and we are happy to be the ones guiding them through this,” said Greg Brown, president of Learfield Sports. “Doug is an outstanding leader, and we will do our absolute best for the Conference as a whole and its 10 member schools.”

 

Learfield Sports manages the multimedia rights for more than 50 collegiate institutions and associations, including the Big Ten Conference, Western Athletic Conference, North Carolina, Memphis, Miami, Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Stanford. It also provides exclusive sports programming to more than 1,000 radio stations nationwide and manages marketing partnerships for the Black Coaches & Administrators (BCA).

 

Dallas-based Learfield Sports – title partner of the Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup with NACDA and USA Today – is an operating unit of Jefferson City, Mo.-based Learfield Communications, Inc. Learfield made its initial foray into the world of sports marketing in 1975 as the radio rights holder for the University of Missouri, a client still today. Additionally, Team Services, LLC, a Learfield Sports company, specializes in venue naming rights, marketing research and sales consultation. For more, visit learfieldsports.com.

 

Founded in 1907, the Missouri Valley Conference is the nation’s second oldest collegiate athletic conference. Located in St. Louis, Mo., the Valley’s current members include Bradley University, Creighton University, Drake University, the University of Evansville, Illinois State University, Indiana State University, Missouri State University, the University of Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois University and Wichita State University.

 

MEDIA CONTACT:

Jennifer Duncan

Learfield Sports

(469) 767-8324

jduncan@learfieldsports.com

 

Mike Kern

Missouri Valley Conference

(314) 224-2326

kern@mvc.org

 

Posted on Monday, August 3, 2009