Legends College will serve a number of blue-chip clients, including Notre Dame.Pictures
The legends have spear a new college division, which will offer more resources and a greater range of services to the firm’s college clientele.
The division will be known as Legends College and will be led by President Mike Behan, who previously served as COO of College Partnerships. Behan joined Legends in 2011 and has led the company into the college world for the past decade, working with blue-chip clients such as USC, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Wisconsin and others .
Miami and Georgia Tech are two of Legends’ media rights partners, but Legends’ presence in college sports is primarily tied to premium ticket sales and marketing around stadium construction and renovations.
The company will now look to “address the most complex challenges” in the university sector, Behan said. “If we think about the last 12 to 24 months, how the academic landscape has changed and the seismic shifts one after another, there are serious challenges at the gates of universities. »
Legends College will face a competitive market, with Learfield and Playfly having the most customers in the space.
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Legends operates based on the strength of six verticals: planning, premium sales, partnerships, hospitality, merchandise and technology solutions.
“We will continue to add support, resources and talent across the academic sector in each of the six verticals,” Behan said. “We have already begun the process of hiring people and we will continue to seek and hire additional people over the coming weeks.”
Fundraising, in particular, is an area where Legends College believes it can give athletic departments a boost.
“When you think about this space and look for new engagements with universities, fundraising is a unique opportunity that will be critical to the company,” said Mike Tomon, Legends COO and co-president of the entire company.
In this role, Behan now reports to Tomon. Behan has previously advised schools on major facility transformations that take into account fan experience and premium seating revenue.
“It’s certainly an exciting time in this space,” Tomon said. “It’s definitely a growth space for us.”
Behan came to Legends from the NBA team marketing and business operations division, where he advised NBA and WNBA teams on all aspects of their business, sponsorship and ticket sales. to premium seats, many of the same functions it currently performs for university customers.
