By Allison Watkinson
TLL Reporter
Collegiate Sports Management Group (CSMG) and The BrandR Group (TBG) have announced a multi-year brand partnership in the NIL and group licensing spaces.
The agreement will focus on combining personnel resources and university network connections for mutual benefit. Collectively, CSMG and TBG represent more than 250 athletic conferences, universities, and colleges.
The partnership will also focus on the development of turnkey solutions that work at a conference level. The financial terms of the deal are not being disclosed.
CSMG is an integrated sports and entertainment company that primarily works on esports and traditional sports. The focus of CSMG’s business verticals is intellectual property rights management, acquisition and development, NIL, valuation services, licensing, and sponsorship sales.
“I joined CSMG to work on industry-leading initiatives and innovative partnerships,” said Jim Connelly, CRO at CSMG. “Through our complementary service offerings and combined expertise, we will drive additional value for collegiate athletes participating in our programs.”
TBG is known for positioning brands to leverage student-athlete NIL group rights with university intellectual property.
“CSMG has numerous school and/or conference IP rights, and we represent group player rights for student-athletes helping to ensure they find fair-market value and are well represented in these ventures,” said Wesley Haynes, CEO of The BrandR Group.
“For more than 30 years, the industry has had the opportunity to observe how professional sports (e.g. leagues, teams, and athletes) work and can be co-branded in equitable ways. In fact, it is the professional sports background of many of the CSMG executives that allowed them to see how a collaboration here in the college space can work,” added Haynes.
“We are thrilled to find CSMG as a partner interested in collaboration to benefit, not just their own interests, but for the benefit of the schools, student-athletes, fans, sponsors, and licensees.”
TBG represents the group licensing rights for student-athletes at more than 35 colleges and universities. This allows for future jersey sales, apparel, NFTs, memorabilia, and other opportunities benefitting student-athletes.
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