RICHMOND, Va. – VCU Athletics has extended its decade-long partnership with Learfield, the media and technology company powering college athletics. The long-term extension reinforces Learfield's role as VCU's exclusive multimedia and sponsorship rights partner through VCU Sports Properties. Together, they will continue to strengthen the university's athletic programs with a strategic focus on revenue generation, Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) opportunities, content development, and data-driven initiatives.

"VCU Athletics and Learfield have set the pace for innovation in college athletics the last decade and this contract extension shows the strength of this partnership," said Ed McLaughlin, Vice President & Director of Athletics at VCU. "VCU Sports Properties has excelled in finding NIL opportunities for our Rams throughout the Richmond community and the entire Central Virginia region. Learfield's relationship-based approach has helped unlock partnerships that align with our values and grow our revenue, especially during a time when all college athletic departments need it. Our goal of building the most successful basketball-powered property in the country remains in good hands with this historic contract extension."

Through this enhanced partnership, VCU Sports Properties will bring valuable NIL opportunities, intellectual property usage, branded experiences, and original content to the forefront of its sponsorship efforts. VCU will continue to leverage Learfield's comprehensive sponsorship solutions and expanded services to drive revenue growth. These data-driven strategies have already delivered strong results, with the average sponsorship deal size more than doubling in recent years and over 20 brand partners integrating NIL into their campaigns. As VCU's brand value and market appeal continue to grow among local, regional, and national brands, VCU Sports Properties secured a record-breaking partnership with Virginia Credit Union, now recognized as the Official Credit Union of VCU Athletics.

As an enterprise-wide partner, VCU also utilizes Learfield's licensed merchandise agency CLC, digital sports solutions provider SIDEARM Sports, and Learfield's ticketing, fundraising, and marketing provider Paciolan. Additionally, the agreement delivers more value by tapping into Learfield's data and digital expertise, powered by Fanbase, the most comprehensive fan data infrastructure in college athletics. Demographic, geographic, and profile data metrics can be used by the multimedia rights team and the VCU Athletics staff to better target Rams fans and maximize brand partnership opportunities.

"It's an exciting new chapter in our partnership with Ed and VCU Athletics," said Meghan Heinchon, Executive Vice President of Sports Properties at Learfield. "VCU is positioning itself as a leader in athletics, and we're excited to help them experience extraordinary growth, especially in strategic sponsorships, revenue generation and NIL programs for their student-athletes." 

As part of the renewal, the VCU Sports Properties team expanded to include a new, dedicated Content Specialist role that works to produce student-athlete-branded content campaigns. The recent addition will create further opportunities to amplify student-athlete storytelling and social influencer opportunities through content creation.

About Learfield
Learfield is the media and technology company powering college athletics. Through its digital and physical platforms, Learfield owns and leverages a deep data set and relationships in the industry to drive revenue, growth, brand awareness, and fan engagement for brands, sports, and entertainment properties. With ties to over 1,200 collegiate institutions and over 12,000 local and national brand partners, Learfield's presence in college sports and live events delivers influence and maximizes reach to target audiences. With solutions for a 365-day, 24/7 fan experience, Learfield enables schools and brands to connect with fans through licensed merchandise, game ticketing, donor identification for athletic programs, exclusive custom content, innovative marketing initiatives, NIL solutions, and advanced digital platforms. Since 2008, it has served as title sponsor for the acclaimed Learfield Directors' Cup, supporting athletic departments across all divisions.