It’s money-making time for Penn State Athletics — or making-even-more-money time as the 15-year multiyear agreement between Playfly Sports and the athletic department kicks into gear.
Playfly Sports replaces Learfield as the athletic department’s multimedia partner and fans might not notice some changes moving forward while others might be hard to avoid or ignore.
No matter what happens, the athletic department has one goal in mind with the partnership, and that’s enhancing its bottom line.
What changes going forward will mostly be spun as better fan engagement, and it might indeed be that, in the form of activations and experiences (in-person things in and around Beaver Stadium and other venues), content options (more podcasts, updated scoreboards and videos) and premium opportunities (again, fan-focused experiences that, as a “premium” will probably come with an additional cost).
What It Means To Work With Playfly
It’s an exciting time for the Playfly and Penn State, for sure.
Plus, as Penn State hopes to generate 20 percent or more annually than did from its previous rights deal, there are many factors in its favor — including a potentially Top 10 football team and loosened rules that allow on-field advertising this year. (Yes, ads on the field itself at Beaver Stadium and other college football venues seems inevitable as the game becomes more toward an official pro sport than what it was previously. It’s highly valuable and visible inventory for a potential sponsor.)
If Playfly can identify and nurture the right sponsors, and that’s its job, it should be in position to deliver ($$$) for Penn State and itself.
Playfly has been working for months on the Penn State account. Blue-and-white fans dominate the company website home page and its team of a dozen or so account professionals has been working sponsors since this spring (and probably even before). A special event for sponsors and would-be sponsors was conducted during Blue-White Weekend, and activity around the Penn State account has increased regularly with hirings and plans to support the athletic department.
A multimedia partner often handles behind-the-scenes things for an athletic department, providing a supplement to staff as they pin down sponsorships, pull together radio affiliates and sell, sell, sell. A multimedia partner also employs broadcasters who provide the home team coverage on radio and streaming outlets — so Steve Jones and Jack Ham for Penn State football, for example.
When done well, the final product simply looks and sounds to most consumers and fans as a more expansive and polished Penn State athletic department effort. And, honestly, their impact is less about public-facing things than building a financial foundation and relationships with the people who power those finances.
Playfly has partnerships with more than 60 college athletic departments, inclining Maryland, Michigan State, Nebraska, and USC in the expanded Big Ten Conference. Its clients include more than 100 professional teams and, in the intertwined world of big-budget college sports, separate deals with regional sports networks and brands as well.
Playfly has hired several Penn Staters, some of the best at what they do, so there should be a level of familiarity that helps ensure early success. Plus, the company’s portfolio of services is expansive and growing, including analytics and data that can inform future decisions.
What To Expect From The Playfly Partnership
As things begin and rollout, there are a couple of things that should be noticeable at Penn State.
First, expect a weeklong White Out event and promotional effort, making it more than just as Saturday thing. With the White Out as one of Penn State’s most marketable assets, the Playfly folks will work to capitalize on that existing awareness, energy and success.
Second, watch for additions and changes to sponsors and vendors you’ve seen online and at Penn State venues in the past. As they sell, sell, sell, they’ll find different buyers. Plus, prices will probably go up to be associated with Penn State, meaning different sponsors might emerge (or opt out).
Third, based on Penn State’s success with the launch of the Tunnel Club before last season (it sold out the space that allows fans access to watch the team enter and exit the field from a private space underneath Beaver Stadium), more exclusive and special access things will happen. There’s clearly a market for them.
No changes are expected to broadcast teams for football (Jones/Ham), men’s basketball (Jones/Dick Jerardi) or men’s hockey (Brian Tripp/Eric Ohlson). Still, there is an opening for a person, or perhaps room for a change to more than one person and an updated approach, to how Penn State handles its own content-creation efforts. So fans might notice a change there.
After two decades with Learfield and with a leadership change at the top in Pat Kraft, the move to Playfly does not seem that surprising. It’s a move Penn State probably needed to find fresh approaches and enhanced and updated revenue streams. Ultimately, it might benefit fans.
There is one bit of rich irony, though. Most athletic directors have incentives in their contracts that provide bonuses depending on how their teams finish in annual standings for the Learfield Directors Cup, which compiles finishes for all teams in all sports.
While Kraft drove the move from Learfield to Playfly for Penn State, he probably still has those incentives in his contract. So, if the teams do well, he could’ve effectively taken money away from Learfield by still finding a way to make it for himself because the Learfield Director’s Cup standings are not exclusive to programs that partner with the company.
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