IOWA CITY, Iowa – Iowa Athletics and Learfield, the media and technology company powering college athletics, announced today a groundbreaking renewal to continue their nearly 40-year relationship as a new era of college athletics begins. The multi-year renewal will drive innovative revenue generation solutions for the athletic department and unlock the full power of Learfield Impact, Learfield’s industry-leading NIL service, for Hawkeye student-athletes.

“Learfield continues to find new ways to enhance its strategic partnership with the Hawkeyes as we move into the new age of college athletics,” said Beth Goetz, the Henry B. and Patricia B. Tippie Director of Athletics Chair. “They are the ideal partner for us to continue unlocking new revenue streams, strengthen our sponsorship programs, and provide opportunities for Hawkeye student-athletes to take full advantage of their personal brands.”

Learfield’s advanced revenue generation strategies and solutions are powered by enhanced data from Fanbase, the largest proprietary fan database in college athletics. Fanbase provides Iowa Athletics, Hawkeye Sports Properties, and brand partners with demographic, geographic, and brand affinity information to build fan profiles and invaluable insights on the expansive Hawkeye fanbase.

Utilizing the extensive fan data at its disposal, Iowa will activate targeted digital campaigns through Fan365, Learfield’s programmatic digital marketing solution that has delivered 28 million impressions for Iowa’s brand partners in the last year, and Social+, Learfield Studios’ social content production team, which has produced a 90 percent year-over-year increase in output of sponsored social media content highlighted by the EMMY Award-winning Crossover at Kinnick series.

With the renewed partnership, Iowa will add two NIL-dedicated personnel and an additional content specialist to the Hawkeye Sports Properties staff and lean into Learfield Impact to deliver more opportunities and enhanced storytelling for its student-athletes and brand partners through a robust suite of NIL services. Learfield Impact brings together expert personnel, digital storytelling, and innovative technology by pairing dedicated NIL leaders, on-campus content and social development resources through the Emmy Award-winning Learfield Studios team. It also leverages the Compass NIL platform, which connects athletes with more than 12,000 brand partners nationwide for streamlined dealmaking.

“Beth and her team have done a fantastic job growing Iowa Athletics, particularly as a leader in collegiate women’s sports, and we’re thrilled to continue what has been nearly 40 years of partnership with the Hawkeyes,” said Kim Damron, Learfield’s President of Sports Properties. “In the post-House Settlement age of college athletics, Learfield is positioned to help Iowa maximize their brand power and revenue generation and look forward to being part of their continued growth.”

Under the renewed partnership, Learfield and Hawkeye Sports Properties will maximize sponsorship revenue through premium assets including on-field logos inside Kinnick Stadium. Iowa Athletics will also continue to leverage Learfield’s corporate partnerships team to add incremental revenue through national brand partners such as State Farm, Old Dominion and Abbott.

The Hawkeyes also take advantage of Learfield’s enterprise-wide expertise through its partnerships with Paciolan, the leader in ticketing, marketing, and fundraising technology in college athletics, and Learfield Amplify, Learfield’s outbound ticket sales, development and in-venue seating solutions provider. Over the last three years, Iowa Athletics has experienced 111 percent growth in ticket transfers, 39 percent growth in new accounts created via ticket transfer, 52 percent growth in tickets sold secondarily through Paciolan’s partnership with SeatGeek, and 101 percent growth in mobile tickets downloaded. Meanwhile, Learfield Amplify’s outbound sales team has ignited multiple successive season ticket sellouts for Hawkeye football, women’s basketball and men’s wrestling, all coming to fruition before the first home event of each respective season.