NEW YORK, April 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The University of Notre Dame athletics department will
partner with Legends and JMI Sports -- two of the leading athletics
marketing and hospitality companies in the country -- to oversee
Notre Dame's sales, marketing,
hospitality, media rights and branding services on a local and
national level.
Through this unique partnership, Notre
Dame is determined to become an innovative leader in the
packaging and presentation of its game-day hospitality experience,
multimedia rights, corporate sponsorship plans and national radio
broadcasts.
The announcement made today by University Vice President and
James E. Rohr Director of Athletics Jack
Swarbrick is the culmination of an extensive review and
evaluation process that began 18 months ago.
"As we embarked upon this task of finding the best strategic fit
for Notre Dame, we made it clear that
we were seeking partners who understood the unique opportunities
offered by the Notre Dame brand,"
Swarbrick said.
"Both Legends and JMI Sports not only demonstrated superior
appreciations of our culture and our mission, but also their
willingness to creatively pursue features that are 100 percent
Notre Dame-centric. Each company has
unique and specific strengths to offer, so we asked them to combine
those strengths to create something transformational for
Notre Dame.
"We believe this partnership recognizes the value of the Notre
Dame brand and offers enough creativity and innovation to return
significant revenue opportunities for all parties to the agreement.
We expect that resulting new initiatives will provide corporate
sponsors and Notre Dame fans new,
engaging and entertaining ways to connect with our University and
its athletic program."
The University, through this 12-year agreement, will seek to
create and implement unique programs and partnerships with an elite
group of companies and brands -- delivering unprecedented levels of
engagement, first-class hospitality experiences and recognition,
while also preserving traditions Notre
Dame holds dear.
JMI Sports brings extensive multimedia expertise to the
partnership with current representation of premier collegiate
brands. "Notre Dame approached its
analysis with the clear objective of creating an outcome that will
maximize the opportunities for its unique brand," said JMI Sports
CEO Erik Judson. "In developing our
solution to meet those very high expectations, we believe the
combined value proposition offered by a JMI Sports/Legends
partnership will exceed those expectations. This partnership will
provide extraordinary financial upside while at the same time
allowing Notre Dame to maintain control
of the most influential and revered brand in college sports."
Already a partner with Notre Dame
since 2013, Legends was an integral part of executing the Campus
Crossroads Project, developing capital gift and annual donation
pricing models, packaging and marketing strategy, while also
executing sales campaigns for new premium seating
inventory.
"Our commitment includes building a team of highly qualified
sports and sponsorship professionals who have a strong affection
and understanding of Notre Dame, its
history and its iconic reputation," said Shervin Mirhashemi, President and CEO of
Legends. "In partnership with JMI Sports, we look forward to
tapping into the experience and relationships we have built with
some of the largest and most well-known brands in sports, media and
entertainment to help expand the incredible opportunities available
through this partnership."
Recognizing the uniqueness of their agreement with Notre Dame, Legends and JMI Sports will dedicate
stand-alone national, regional and local sales and marketing staff
resources to the partnership while tapping into the highly
experienced branding, hospitality and experiential marketing teams
at both companies.
"The future of college athletics requires vision and innovation
-- and that's what we've found in this partnership with Legends and
JMI Sports," said Swarbrick. "Their approach to serving an elite
group of universities falls right in line with our expectations of
a partner."
The new partnership will include Notre
Dame's national football radio rights, which previously had
been a stand-alone agreement for many years with the Mutual
Broadcasting System, Westwood One and most recently with ISP and
then IMG College.
Notre Dame previously had been
handling most of its athletic corporate sponsorships and marketing
rights through Notre Dame Sports Properties, created in 2003.
About JMI Sports
JMI Sports is a full-service collegiate marketing firm providing
the highest quality management of athletics multimedia rights. By
breaking new ground in the creation of the Total Campus Marketing
program, JMI Sports maximizes the economic potential of
universities. JMI Sports is also a highly regarded project manager
for the development of collegiate and professional sports
facilities. JMI Sports adds the University of
Notre Dame to an impressive list of signature partnerships,
including Clemson University, the
University of Kentucky, the
University of Georgia (with IMG
College) as well as the Ivy League, the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University. JMI Sports was founded in 2006
by Judson and technology entrepreneur John
Moores, former owner of the San Diego Padres.
About Legends
As a holistic solution provider in the sports, music and
entertainment industry, our visionary approach delivers solutions
for legendary brands. Legends is led by industry veterans with an
unparalleled amount of collective experience in Global Planning,
Global Sales and Hospitality, activating across professional
sports, collegiate, attractions, entertainment, international and
conventions. We are the architects of premium sports and
entertainment guest experiences.
We are proud to serve our distinguished roster of sports,
entertainment and attraction clients which consist of thought
leaders, iconic brands and events including Yankee Stadium,
AT&T Stadium, nearly 40 Live Nation venues, One World
Observatory, FC Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Twickenham Stadium,
Wimbledon Tennis Championships, Tottenham Hotspur, Golden 1 Center,
Manchester City FC, University of Notre
Dame, Los Angeles Football Club, Oakland
Raiders, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Rams, Los Angeles
Chargers, Atlanta Falcons, NFL, University of
Southern California, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Super
Bowl 50 and Indianapolis 500. For
more about Legends business and career opportunities, visit
www.legends.net.
About Notre Dame Athletics
The University of Notre Dame
sponsors 26 varsity athletics programs (13 men's, 13 women's),
dating back to 1887 when the Irish played their first football
game. Notre Dame won its
30th and 31st national
championships in 2018 when the Irish claimed the NCAA Fencing
Championship and the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship following
previous titles in football (11 consensus), fencing (three men, one
women, five combined), women's soccer (three), men's tennis (two),
plus one each in men's soccer, women's basketball, men's golf and
men's cross country. Notre Dame remains
an independent in football, but most other Irish sports in 2013-14
began competing in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Notre Dame student-athletes in 2017 recorded the
highest NCAA Graduation Success Rate figure (98) among all Football
Bowl Subdivision institutions.
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SOURCE Legends