You might not have noticed it if you live outside the Commonwealth, but earlier this week, Kentucky announced that they have agreed to sell their athletics and campus multimedia rights to JMI Sports.
$210 million over the next 15 years, which works out to an average of $14 million over the course of the contract, which will go into effect in 2015-2016. It’s one of the five highest in college sports, and it includes a $29.4 million signing bonus.
That’s a lot of scratch, especially when you consider that Kentucky cannot sell their television rights. Those are part of the SEC’s broadcast deal.
So what are they selling? The Louisville Courier-Journal explains:
More interestingly, however, is this note from that Courier-Journal story:
It’s not a secret that Big Blue Nation is the most powerful force in college basketball when it comes to online traffic. That’s why there are so many Kentucky fan sites, most notably Kentucky Sports Radio. Is the Kentucky athletic department looking to tap into that money stream?