New school years often start with change – this will surely be the case for UVM’s athletic department as they bring on a new multimedia partner.

UVM Athletic Director Robert Corran and Learfield Sports CEO Greg Brown have recently announced that Learfield Sports will be UVM’s official multimedia rights partner.

The contract will expire in 2025.

This service is a first for the University, as all prior media communication were previously managed by University employees.

“One of the benefits of the relationship is that it allows the athletic department to focus even more on fan and student engagement in order to create an even more energized and exciting atmosphere at all of our games,” Jeffery Schulman, senior associate athletic director said.

Working alongside UVM’s own athletic administration will be Learfield’s “Vermont Sports Properties” division, which will be in control of UVM’s athletic rights such as sponsorship, marketing and media.

Among the rights that have now shifted to Learfield are event planning, corporate sponsorships and radio play-by-play.

Hockey games and basketball games will continue to broadcast on WVMT – 620 AM and ESPN 101.3 FM respectively.

CatamountTV will remain a running program.

“We are very fortunate to have developed such a wonderful partnership with Learfield Sports,”  Corran said.

“This will allow us to focus greater efforts on promotions, communications and brand building while enabling Learfield staff to bring their considerable organization and experience to sponsorship and multimedia sales,” he said.

Learfield Sports currently represents more than 100 colleges, four of which compete in the Hockey East.

Among them are the University of  Maine, the University of New Hampshire and UMass Amherst, as well as recent powerhouse Providence College, the defending men’s hockey national champions.

“We’re honored to partner with a first-class university like Vermont, particularly as we extend our reach in the New England states,” Learfield Sports CEO Greg Brown said.

“We look forward to working with Dr. Corran and his administration to provide a new level of sophisticated rights support for the Catamounts and working to elevate their brand.”

Schulman also commented on the positives of the decision.

“Learfield has a great reputation for enhancing sponsor value and increasing revenue for schools,” Schulman said.

With the commercial reality in which we now inhabit, a move such as this was inevitable for UVM to keep up with competing universities.