Learfield has reached a long-term deal with SaaS platform SponsorCX to aid its 140-plus college clients as they manage expanding portfolios of sports sponsorship deals and navigate emerging revenue opportunities like jersey patches and NIL. Terms of the deal were not shared with SBJ.
Jeff Gosey, Learfield’s SVP/Revenue Strategy & Operations, said the overall discovery and decision-making process that led to SponsorCX started 15 months ago. Learfield and its schools, he mentioned, needed more flexibility and speed around the whole sponsorship process. “We have 130,000 rate card items that we have to manage and 12,000 brand deals a year,” Gosey told SBJ. “... There is some nuance, property of property. We need to be able to do that to best meet our properties and serve our properties, serve our sellers, and serve our schools.”
SponsorCX was founded in 2017 but officially launched its product in 2021. The firm has clients across the top five men’s North American leagues, a group that includes the Sacramento Kings and the Timbers. SponsorCX was founded by Jason Smith. He formerly worked for ISP Sports (a company that ultimately became part of the Learfield ecosystem) during a career in sports sponsorship.
Learfield colleges are currently being trained to use SponsorCX in time for the 2026/27 academic year and football season. A relationship at this scale, Smith said, will help to bolster SponsorCX’s capabilities.
“I’m excited to see Learfield start to use this with the brands as well to see that interaction and the collaboration piece,” Smith said. “Because we will also learn from that as well. And we will learn as brands get invited in.”
