ISP/ESPN Form Partnership to Manage USF Multimedia

[E.T.]

I am shocked by some of these posts . . .

USF has increased our revenue a min. of $2.2 million annually for 10 years.  

I would say that most that have "problems" with this would be the same one's bashing USF if it wasn't done ... can't win with some.

Let's be realistic . . . the main problem has been that it's "too long" ... things can be renegotiated. If we signed for only 5 years, we probably wouldn't have been close to $10 million. So let's say in 5-6 years things are going great ... we are "sharing" the revenue ... hoiw is this bad ?

And if it's going great, ISP and/or ESPN will want to renegotiate a 10 year $88 million dollar deal  8-)

This is WIN - WIN for USF ... "bad deal for usf" ... ?  ;D Better than what some homeless people can get, depending on their attorney  :-*

Go BULLS !!!

[Joe]

I'm gonna put it this way without putting too much out there.

The school I work for made a similar deal for a little less money. It was a "minimum" plus whatever they sell just like this deal is stated to be .

What do we get? The minimum called for in the contract give a few bucks occasionally. Why? Because these big companies contract with bigger schools (like FSU) that can make them more money that they focus their efforts on.

I'm speaking from personal expirience, as well as other smaller schools who have voiced the same concern. I'm not trying to be an a-hole, just voicing my opinion of the deal...

[E.T.]

The way I see it is simple and stated before by others,[highlight] it's over 4 times the size of our current revenue![/highlight]

If we are more marketable, we'll make more money and they would want to renegotiate the contract to hold on to us.

If we do not improve, we have a major revenue increase that our fan base would "most likely" not provide in the next 10 years. What else could have increased our revenue to $2.2 annually ?

Joe,

Don't think ur being a hole at all.  How long has your school had their contract ? Did it increase your revenue? Has it "hurt" your school ?

Maybe someone can answer this question:(Greg?)

FSU has 10 year - $66 Million, USF has 10 year - $22 million. What are some of the other school's deals ?

Go BULLS !!!

[USFan]

The way I see it is simple and stated before by others,[highlight] it's over 4 times the size of our current revenue![/highlight]

Seriously folks, it's not that hard to understand.

Thanks for making it "clear", ET.  

[E.T.]

...

USF WOULD be better served going on road getting a big pay day ...

Another reason why the new 10 year $22 Million deal is great ... further reason not to get "pay games".

Anyways, teams do not want to "pay" us to come and play. We are a risk, "pay" games are for teams that would most likely lose.

...

:GoBulls

Eric,

Would these "new" funds go into helping us schedule more teams to play here ?

Also, would these new funds help in HOT traveling to games ?

Go BULLS !!!

[Eric_Soncrant]

ET

Can't really tell where the money will be put to as it's not really my area.  It could go to scholarships, coaches salaries, recruitings, equipment, travel, or to my contract which I'm looking to negotiate to 10 years and $22 million.  

It certainly could be used for guarantees or to help with other expenses related to athletics.  But those aren't conversations I'm in.  

As for Joe, I am typically of the train of thought that I like to keep corporate sponsorships in house.  But you can't argue with an increase like that.  Also keep in mind you are saving the salaries and operational costs of that operation.  Figure 4 peoples salaries and benefits plus travel, office equipment, etc.  It all adds up.

Eric

[bulls96go]

I won't go any further into detail because I'm not sure if I am allowed to talk about the involvement of my school and it's media rights publically.

However, I will say it has not worked out the way we thought it would.

simple questions.

1. did the school NOT recieve the minimum?

2. did the school "produce" more than the minimum and NOT get the contracted extra cash?

3. can the school NOT renew the contract at it's end?

4. last can the school get a "significantly" better contract right now?  (ie did the school not know their value and negotiate poor terms of the contract?

extra: how much of a guarateed increase did the school get when the contract was signed?

usf went fron $500k to $ 2.2M, we moved fron CDOA to the BCS so a 4 fold increase is about right.

[E.T.]

Thanx Eric.

Bottom Line: Our Athletic Budget jumped by an incredible amount !

Go BULLS !!!

[Guest]

From the Daily Bruin @ UCLA (Dec 2005):

The impact of third-party marketing firms In 2004, UCLA joined a growing list of schools that contracted its multimedia rights and corporate sponsorship sales with a sports marketing firm. These firms sign deals with advertisers on behalf on numerous universities, allowing corporate sponsors to affiliate themselves with multiple schools while working with just one agency. Guerrero estimates that ISP Sports, which has partnerships with 25 schools across the nation, brought in an additional $500,000 of net income for UCLA’s Athletic Department last year. “You can maximize the power that you have in your local market with a national sales force that is tied to other schools,†Guerrero said. “The ISP network may be at 20 campuses and they can go to one sponsor and say I can bring you 20 universities. The UCLA relationship may help Vanderbilt just because that company may want to get involved with UCLA.†Likewise, UCLA has benefited when corporate sponsors seeking a relationship with another ISP-affiliated school also commit to the Bruins. These sorts of benefits may help explain why ISP has added six of its 25 schools in the last year and a half. “If someone within an athletic department is in charge, they may have other responsibilities like ticket sales or half-time promotions that are a part of college sports or marketing,†ISP spokesman John Justice said. “The marketing we do is focused on large corporate sponsors. We can bring clients to athletic departments that they couldn’t bring on their own because of our contacts.†In June, Cal entered a 10-year contract with ISP sports that guarantees its athletic department an annual rights fee and additional consideration for revenue generated by the firm. The agreement is expected to help bring in an added one million dollars in net income, according to Holton. He noted that since ISP’s arrival, Cal has landed lucrative sponsorships from companies such as Allstate and Chevron. “ISP has got the ability for companies to purchase at a better rate,†Holton said. “The (companies) can look at how many universities there are when buying a corporate package. It’s a much better base for us being aligned with them. There’s a lot more revenue than we could generate on our own.â€Â

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Not sure why anyone would think this is not a good deal...

[Bullpride08]

Ugh. Very similar to the deals forced upon C-DOA with CSTV after we left.

The length of the contract bothers me, because it limits us through 2017.

Further, ESPN is the devil, and anything they touch usually ends up becoming a second thought if it doesn't make them money or give them a platform.

The money is very nice. I just hate exclusive deals like this.

But FSU was willing to sign for 10 years with ISP.  It didn't bother them, albeit for quite a bit more dollars but their name is worth more right now.

For 66 Million, sign me up.

However 22 Million, while it seems like a nice number now, is not the type of number that (I hope) is going to be viable to this school in 5-6 years.

I guess I'm saying the agreement is way too long.

Hmm, are you now able to gauge the dollar value of these contracts too, to deem what is fair?  Pretty amazing, why aren't you running this Athletic Department.  

I would say given the strength of conference and name FSU, and USF are fairly priced.  I would guess it would take us about 8-10 years before anyone at USF could expect more than a nominal increase.  It's about a franchise value.  If anyone doesn't think there isn't a buyout provision and or ability to renegotiate clearly hasn't seen a real contract in their lives.  Boys, there are usually more details then what's printed in the paper...I know that's difficult for a few of you to grasp.

Of course some will be mad because all the details and full explanation of the contract wasn't released to the public.

Hey maybe Joe could read it to us.