Athletics: UL announces multimedia rights partnership

The Advertiser, March 5, 2018

The Ragin’ Cajuns have selected Learfield as the university’s multimedia rights partner through the 2027-28 collegiate athletic season, athletic director Bryan Maggard announced Monday.

The 10-year partnership with Learfield is a first for the Ragin’ Cajuns, as the collegiate marketer will manage all aspects of UL’s comprehensive athletic rights previously overseen by the university.

Learfield already has been vetting candidates for its “Ragin’ Cajuns Sports Properties” team, which will be established in Lafayette to work alongside Maggard and the athletics administration. Ragin’ Cajuns Sports Properties will begin oversight of the rights relationship concurrent with the 2018-19 season and will include signage, digital, television and radio broadcasts, and coaches’ shows, as well as further development of the corporate partner platform.

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“We are extremely excited to partner with Learfield, an industry leader representing intercollegiate athletic programs in the multi-media marketplace,” said Maggard. “This partnership will allow us to continue to enhance our brand nationally while growing additional revenues that will help support our overall objectives of graduating student-athletes and competing for and winning championships.”

With the addition of the Ragin’ Cajuns, Learfield now represents seven members of the Sun Belt Conference. The Texas-based company also manages the individual athletic multimedia rights and sponsorship initiatives for Arkansas State, Georgia Southern, Little Rock, ULM, Texas State and University of Texas at Arlington. Louisiana Tech and McNeese State are the other collegiate athletic programs within the state represented by Learfield.

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“We look forward to representing the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns,” said Learfield President and CEO Greg Brown. “We are pleased to be able to work with Bryan Maggard and his team and have a great appreciation for his leadership. We also respect the intensity of the Ragin’ Cajuns fan base and are looking forward to developing brand building campaigns for sponsors on behalf of the entire athletics program.”