The Big 12 isn’t the only Football Bowl Subdivision conference considering selling its naming rights to a sponsor. At least three Group of 5 conferences have held discussions on the topic as well, including Conference USA, the American and the Mountain West, multiple people involved in the discussions told The Athletic.
CUSA has discussed the idea for the past few years. A deal isn’t imminent, but it was broached again among conference officials and schools at CUSA’s spring meetings. Yahoo! Sports first reported on the possibility. Globe Life Insurance is one of multiple companies that have been in the discussion.
CUSA first began looking into the possibility around the name, image and likeness rule changes that were introduced in 2021, during a period of significant conference realignment in which the league sought to refocus its brand and identity. The conference survived, signed a new television deal with ESPN and CBS and moved its October games to the middle of the week, providing its teams with a new and unopposed window for viewers. The league will grow to 12 teams next year when it adds Delaware and Missouri State.
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New AAC commissioner Tim Pernetti told The Athletic that he brought up the idea of conference naming rights during his interview for the conference’s top job earlier this year, and it remains a point of discussion. With a background in sports business and private equity, Pernetti has been very open to finding new revenue streams for college sports.
“Nothing should be off the table,” Pernetti said.
Pernetti believes brands and companies have a strong affinity for college sports, and there are ways that partnerships can strengthen programs at a time of great change. As Rutgers’ athletic director, he helped sell the naming rights to the Scarlet Knights’ football stadium. He also negotiated the jersey sponsorship for New York City FC during his time as the MLS club’s chief business officer. Pernetti emphasized that it’s not simply about who offers the most money. The brand has to fit.
College bowl games have been involved in these types of deals for years. Some games add a sponsor to a traditional name that remains in place; other games have replaced their distinguishing name with the name of the sponsor. The TaxSlayer Gator Bowl, which has been played since 1946, was the TaxSlayer Bowl from 2014 to 2017.
These discussions within conferences come at a time of great financial upheaval. At the Power 4 level, Big 12 and ACC schools are staring down a future of being tens of millions of dollars behind Big Ten and SEC schools in annual revenue through TV deals and College Football Playoff payouts. P4 leagues are also looking at paying athletes upwards of $20 million annually as part of the House v. NCAA settlement, pending its approval.
At the Group of 5 level, schools will see less money distributed from the NCAA in order for the organization to cover the back pay damages from the House settlement, and the new massive CFP contract won’t provide much more money for their leagues.
So everything is up for discussion, including the possibility of renaming a conference or adding a sponsor to the existing name.
“These are the conversations we need to have,” Pernetti said.
(Photo: Isaiah Vazquez / Getty Images)
