National Collegiate Athletic Association
NCAA News Archive - 2001
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Partner dollars impact championships, programs to boost student-athlete welfare
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The NCAA News
From dollars to dividends.
When the NCAA and its corporate partners shake hands, that's the goal.
The dollars come from corporate coffers, but it's incumbent upon the NCAA to make sure they're well-spent. And since 1984, when the NCAA's corporate partner program was introduced, that goal hasn't changed.
The corporate partner program currently is administered by Host Communications, which pays the NCAA an annual fee for the access to up to 20 corporate partners. Those corporations then contract through Host for use of the NCAA mark and access to NCAA championships.
Host's deal with the NCAA is a five-year package with incremental increases that average about $15 million per year (this year's fee is $16.5 million).
Host's contracts with corporations vary depending on the "value" of the arrangement, and if the overall total exceeds more than $6 million above Host's annual fee with the NCAA, those revenues are shared with the NCAA.
In return for rights fees, the corporate partners are due certain benefits and opportunities.
Additionally, certain recognition and opportunities are provided to each corporate partner as "added value" to its partnership.
That added value continues to develop. For 1999-00, corporate partners received recognition at all 81 NCAA championships via corporate partner banners in each venue's concourse area. At some championships, partners were recognized with YES clinic posters, registration materials and Welcome Center signage. Partners also are recognized on all NCAA Web sites and in official championship game programs.
Beyond the outward recognition, the corporate partner program has long prospered from the "intangibles," the type of positive image association that mutually benefits both parties.
For example, the money that the NCAA receives from its corporate partner program translates directly into additional championships opportunities and programs that benefit student-athletes.
Though the corporate dollars are not earmarked for a specific program in the overall NCAA budget from year to year, they directly impact programs that otherwise might not exist.
"While there's no dollar amount earmarked for programs, it's clear that many of our championships and student-athlete initiatives would not be possible without the corporate dollars," said Keith Martin, the NCAA's director of finance and business operations.
Those dollars go toward championships bracket expansion, which in recent years has increased postseason opportunities for women; additional YES clinics; and other championships enhancements that increase student-athletes' postseason experience.
Corporate partners could request that part of their fee to the NCAA go toward specific initiatives, but the Association's current budget philosophy, like at many intercollegiate athletics departments, follows a pool concept that has a broad-based impact.
"It becomes our job then to ensure that the corporate partners' interest in benefitting student-athlete welfare is apparent in the championships experience," said David Knopp, the NCAA director of corporate marketing. "We're here to enable people to see visible evidence that our partners have made a positive difference."
And the corporate partners have been comfortable over the years in entrusting the NCAA in turning their corporate dollars into student-athlete dividends.
NCAA revenues, 1999-00
The NCAA's corporate partner program represents the third-largest source of Association revenue.
Television rights -- 77.5%
Championships -- 9.1%
Licensing/royalties -- 6.2%
Investments -- 3.6%
Other -- 3.6%
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