Monster Energy Presents Big 12 Football
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Monster Energy Presents Big 12 Football
The Big 12 Athletic Conference made waves recently when it announced that it had finalized a multiyear deal with Monster Energy worth around $20 million annually to make the company the of Big 12 football and basketball. The Big 12 Football Media Days were officially titled the “Monster Energy Big 12 Football Media Days” and in the fall the Big 12 will brand itself as “Monster Energy Big 12 Football.” Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark has repeatedly been at the forefront of innovation and creativity when it comes to adapting to the modern era of college sports, but many people are wondering if this deal has taken things a step too far.
Social media was flooded with posts slamming the deal and using it as an example of how college sports have gone too far when it comes to maximizing revenue. Others panned the deal for failing to maximize the value of the partnership, as reports indicate the deal will bring in only $20 million for the conference, with each member school receiving approximately $1 million annually. Reportedly, one source told Front Office Sports that the deal was “terrible” and that the Big 12 did not get nearly enough value for the sponsorship. To complicate matters even further, multimedia rights (MMR) companies such as Learfield, Playfly Sports, and JMI Sports have expressed discomfort with the arrangement as they believe jersey patches and field logo sponsorships fall within their jurisdiction when partnering with a member institution.
While the deal does not preclude Big 12 member institutions from selling their own commercial jersey patches, Monster retains exclusivity in the energy drink category. Thus, individual member schools will be unable to sell a jersey patch to a rival energy drink company. With the deal bringing criticism from the general public, as well as the individuals and companies involved in the administration of college sports, it’s fair to question what the future of college sports will look like. Will next year’s Big 10 season be branded “Chili’s Big 10 Football” or “Kentucky Fried Chicken’s Big 10 Basketball”? While the business of college sports has changed rapidly, many fans are nostalgic for the past when not every branding opportunity was monetized to the fullest extent possible.
Despite the apparent unseemliness of the deal, branding practices of this kind continue to become commonplace throughout college sports. Athletic departments are doing everything in their power to squeeze every last drop of revenue they can for their teams. Recently, Michigan Wolverines Football Head Coach Kyle Whittingham stated that he expects $50 million football rosters to become the norm. With the college sports arms race more intense than ever, the decision to monetize every aspect of the college sports brand has become irresistible.
From a legal and business perspective, the Big 12’s partnership with Monster Energy may represent less of an anomaly, and more of a preview of the future of college sports. As athletic departments face escalating expenses driven by NIL compensation, revenue-sharing obligations, and increasingly competitive recruiting landscapes, conferences and their member institutions will continuously seek to monetize their IP rights at a level previously reserved for professional sports leagues. These agreements will likely become more sophisticated, with conference-wide category exclusivity provisions, expanded sponsorship inventories, and growing tension between conference offices, member institutions, and MMR partners over ownership and control of commercial assets. While many fans may resist the corporatization of college sports, the financial demands of fielding competitive rosters will likely make these deals a staple of the future of college sports. The central legal and business challenge moving forward will be balancing revenue generation with the preservation of institutional brands, and the traditional identity that has long differentiated college sports from professional leagues.
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