DALLAS – For the first time, the commissioners of the21 athletic conferences that belong to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics have agreed to cooperate as a group on brand
sponsorships. The conferences have also selected Dallas-based multi-media rights agency, Steel Curtain U, to represent the group in those discussions.
Under this alignment, the alliance may develop officialpartnerships that are activated across each conference. The conferences encompass 238 colleges and universities in 40 states, British Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands with more than 450,000 students. Serving as the alliance’s leadership committee to evaluateopportunities will be Dr. Scott Crawford (Frontier Conference), Mike Daniels (Great Southwest Athletic Conference), Mike Hall (Southern States Athletic Conference), and Eric Ward (Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference). The committee
will work in conjunction with the president of Steel Curtain U, Darin David, to promote the alliance and secure sponsorships.
“It is forward-thinking for our NAIA conferences to work collaboratively on corporate partnerships, and I was excited to see us move in this direction,” says Ward. “All our conferences have increasing expectations from stakeholders to generate more non-dues revenue to support conference operations and provide excellent services and resources to our member schools. Our strength and reach as a group far surpasses that of our individual conferences. Many of us have worked with Steel Curtain U in the past and have utmost confidence in their ability to generate partnership opportunities.”
Through the alliance, potential partners will be able toaccess a range of assets including business-to-business opportunities, digital media, social media, naming rights, championship event activation and broadcast integration. Depending on brand reach, partnerships could be developed as national or regional programs.
“In advance of this announcement, we’ve been in discussionwith sponsors across a variety of categories, and the response has been overwhelming,” David shares. “Brand marketers, business development professionals, entrepreneurs and agencies understand that this alliance offers an effective way to reach an uncluttered portion of the college sports world.”
About Steel Curtain U
Steel Curtain U is a college sports multi-mediarepresentation company that drives revenue through sponsorships and partnerships for conferences and associations. The Dallas-based company
represents 11 conferences in NCAA Division II, 21 conferences in the NAIA and the 3C2A which is composed of 112 California community colleges.