Big Players Bidding For Learfield

For Sale

The bidding for sports marketing and broadcasting firm LEARFIELD has drawn some significant players, reports the NEW YORK POST, including FOX SPORTS, THOMAS H. LEE PARTNERS, two HOLLYWOOD talent agencies -- CAA and UTA, ARES CAPITAL PARTNERS, and WPP GROUP.

The MISSOURI-based company, a major player in college sports media with multimedia rights to 120 schools, was put up for bids by PROVIDENCE EQUITY GROUP, owner of a controlling stake, through MOELIS AND CO.; LEARFIELD is valued at about $1.2 billion.  SHAMROCK CAPITAL owns a minority position in LEARFIELD.

LEARFIELD, TUNEIN Expand Partnership

As the company awaits the next round of bidding, it also announced an extension and expansion of its deal with TUNEIN through the 2020-21 season with dedicated channels for 74 schools, an increase of 48 from last year.

“College sports fans are among the most passionate listeners on our platform and we’re thrilled to further serve them through our extension with LEARFIELD,” said TUNEIN Chief Content Officer KEVIN STRALEY. “In each of our three strategic partnerships with LEARFIELD, we have been fortunate enough to add more schools and content to make TUNEIN the ultimate streaming destination for in-market and displaced fans.”

“This is a tremendous offering for fans, and we’re excited to roll it out to schools,” said LEARFIELD COO MARC JENKINS. “TUNEIN has been a solid, respected partner of ours in this space for years, and we’re proud to be able to extend it to this level. We’re excited to get it going and have everything in place before we kick off the season.”

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