The proposed $15million deal with Coca-Cola includes a $10m equity stake and $5m to be dedicated to integrated marketing and promotional activities that may include advertising, special events, retail and consumer marketing, out-of-home entertainment and other initiatives.
Aimed squarely at the growing fan base for US college sports, CSTV will provide the most in-depth sports coverage of 1,200 universities and colleges across all of the major conferences at every level of college sports.
Explains Brian Bedol, president and CEO of CSTV: "Our partnership with Coca-Cola will enable us to provide more value to our affiliates, viewers and programming partners. Coca-Cola's national presence and deep roots in the college market will be a tremendous asset as we build the network into the ultimate home of college sports."
"Consistent with our long-term support of college sports, student athletes and the NCAA, we are pleased to announce our partnership role in College Sports Television," said Chuck Fruit, senior vice president, Worldwide Media and Alliances for the Coca-Cola Company.
"In addition to our equity investment, we will work closely with the network management team in developing new and non-traditional joint marketing opportunities, combining the vision and expertise of CSTV with Coca-Cola's reach, distribution and network of consumer connections."
With long-term programming and marketing agreements with 27 Division I athletic conferences - including the Big East, Big Ten, Big XII, Mountain West, WAC, Big West, West Coast, Big Sky, Ivy League, Sun Belt and Atlantic 10 - CSTV will televise live regular season and championship events across a broad spectrum of men's and women's college sports, including football, basketball, baseball, soccer, ice hockey and lacrosse.
As part of the deal, CSTV and Coca-Cola expect to develop new television programming, joint advertising and consumer marketing initiatives designed to reach the entire college athletic community, including fans, student athletes and millions of college alumni.
The partners also will create new initiatives to complement Coca-Cola's recently announced 11-year sponsorship of the NCAA and its 87 national championship events. Other programming will build upon existing Coca-Cola sports initiatives - such as "Footballtown USA" and "Copa Coca-Cola" - that tap into the passions of college sports fans and Coca-Cola consumers.
In addition, Coca-Cola will use its consumer and trade network to create new opportunities for cable and satellite operators who carry the network.
