A Welcome Development Amid College Sports’ Sea Change

From a corporate partnership perspective, no brands have been impacted more by realignment in college sports than the sponsors of the athletic conferences that all look vastly different today than they did just a year ago.

But after years of being the backwater of the college sports sponsorship landscape compared to NCAA, bowl game and school partnerships (with a few exceptions for championship and tournament title deals), there are stirrings of activity that could point to increased value for marketers considering an association with conferences, especially the majors now known as the A4.

In the past week, the Big 12, SEC and ACC announced technology partnerships with Microsoft (Big 12) and Apple (SEC and ACC) that represent the first time that conference partners will earn significant benefits at the school level through a conference deal. All 49 football programs in those conferences will be provided with tablets as part of the agreements.

Thanks to an April NCAA playing rules change, tablets are now approved for viewing in-game videos. Teams can have up to 18 tablets for use in the coaching booth, sideline, and locker room during games, providing significant exposure for Microsoft’s Surface and Apple’s iPad during college football broadcasts starting this fall.

The inclusion of schools is a marked departure—and upgrade–from most conference deals. Although it’s important to note the circumstance that created the opportunity for the computer giants is unique—a new rule opening up a category where no school had an incumbent partner—the new deals at least crack open the door to further cooperation between schools and their conferences on partnerships, and to exploring whether there are other industry segments that could take advantage of similarly structured agreements.

On their own, the new Microsoft and Apple deals should prove interesting for sports marketing observers, as they represent a sharp contrast between an experienced sponsor in Microsoft—most relevantly as a sideline partner of the NFL since 2013—and its competitor Apple, a company that has for the most part steered clear of the medium.

The difference was apparent in the brand representatives who were quoted in the official announcements of the deals. For Microsoft, it was Gabe Rudolph, senior manager, sports partnerships, while for Apple it was Scott Brodrick, worldwide iPad product marketing.

Whether that will make a difference in how the details are activated—and ultimately whether they earn positive ROI for the brands—will be fun to watch, almost as much as who will be the first college coach or player to smash a tablet to smithereens.