After its current agreement with Learfield expires in June, the University of Cincinnati announced on Wednesday that it will bring its sports media rights operations under its purview.
Cincinnati’s MMR will then fall under the purview of a new business called Cincy Sports Partners, which will be led by the university’s Anthony Di Fino, the sports key income officer, and John Daniel, the CFO.
The university issued a demand for proposals for third-party MMR companies in July, which supports a smaller but rapidly expanding pattern of university athletic departments deciding to skip outside assistance in selling sponsorships and advertising rights.
Learfield, Playfly, and Van Wagner had been weighing last proposals, according to sources with knowledge of the situation. Representatives for those businesses did not respond to inquiries for post right away.

Cincinnati athletic director John Cunningham stated in a phone interview with Sportico that the RFP process began as a” jump ball” in terms of whether the institution would continue to farm out the MMR, as has long been the custom in Division I college athletics.
” We really wanted to see what was out there and tried to get the best and final]offers ] of those interested”, Cunningham said. ” There was a lot of thought and debate”.
He continued, citing the person’s desire not to be made known for this kind of discussing work, that the university managed the risk-reward calculations with an outside mentor, whom he declined to identify.
Eventually, UC prioritized control in the face of professional athletics’ increasing doubt. In recent years, Clemson and Arizona have made similar techniques.
” Flexibility is at a prime because of everything that is happening in school activities and all the moving elements,” Cunningham said.
As part of a deal improvement signed in July 2017, Learfield and Cincinnati are already working together.
Asked if he sees the Bearcats ‘ insourcing as part of a federal design, Cunningham was careful.
” I do n’t know if it will be a trend or not”, he said. It made sense for us, but because we are based in Cincinnati, a pro sports business, and we really have issues going for us that try to apply a very professional approach to everything we do, we are unique.
Arizona announced the formation of Arizona Sports Enterprises as the company’s means of internal control of its media freedom in June, while keeping Learfield in a modified capacity as its “exclusive third-party nationwide sales team.”
Clemson Ventures was established two months ago as the company that would enable the university to control its media rights and other “revenue-generation strategies” separately. After restructuring an arrangement with JMI Sports, the ACC class had recently taken its MMR right internally in 2021.
” We’ve found the ability to control our income techniques in-house to be a differential”, Clemson AD Graham Neff said in a text message. ” Our sector continues to modernize commercial channels, and Clemson Ventures allows us to best optimize those revenue-generating options”.

Following the termination of its Learfield arrangement, Nebraska made its first MMR leap of faith shortly after Clemson made its decision. That attempt, however, did n’t last long, and Nebraska signed an exclusive 15-year,$ 300 million deal with Playfly in Sep. 2022. Despite the fact that they had won, the Huskers ‘ turnaround seemed to put to bed another big-time athletic departments ‘ temptations to fly solo. But as Learfield, in particular, has undergone geological post-COVID shifts to its company, and as colleges struggle with new fiscal incentives brought on by NIL and the House v. NCAA situation, they are extremely compelled to rethink their government.
Cincinnati is currently figuring out its MMR personnel needs, according to Cunningham, noting that its Learfield offer has only eight months left.