Tulane Sports Property Owner, Learfield, Sold to Private Equity Firm
Late Monday night, private equity firm, TPG, entered into an agreement to acquire Learfield, the company that owns the rights to promotion, marketing, and more for Tulane Athletics.
Learfield represents more than 200 of the nation's top collegiate properties including the NCAA and its 89 championships, NCAA Football, leading conferences, and many of the most prestigious colleges and universities in the country, including Tulane.
"Our leadership team and I are...thrilled to share this news," Cole Gahagan, President and CEO of Learfield said. "TPG is one of the most well-respected private equity groups, with investments that have included Creative Artists Agency (CAA), Entertainment Partners, DIRECTV, Fandom, Spotify, and Troon, among many others."
On the list of properties already owned by TPG: Alloy Properties (A US-based life sciences and innovation portfolio aggregation strategy), Cinespace Studios (A content production studio platform in the U.S. and Canada), along with ongoing acquisitions of industrial assets in the US and Europe
This year alone, TPG was able to obtain ownership in: Broadcom Campus in San Jose, CA (a 13-building, 1.1-million-square-foot campus in the Bay Area, reflecting a strategy to target AI-driven demand), Quarterra Multifamily Platform (a major developer of high-quality multifamily communities), and various other residential and commercial ventures in New York, Toronto, and San Francisco.
Among the responsibilities handled by Learfield for Tulane Athletics:
- Multimedia Rights & Sponsorships: Tulane Sports Properties manages in-venue signage, event sponsorships, and corporate hospitality for Green Wave football, basketball, and baseball, securing partners like Breeze Airways.
- Broadcast & Content Management: They oversee radio game broadcasts, coaches' shows, and digital engagement, including the official athletics website, TulaneGreenWave.com.
- Digital & Technology Platforms: Through Learfield's parent company, they manage the official Tulane Athletics mobile app, ticketing through Paciolan, and website solutions through SIDEARM Sports.
- Licensing: Learfield subsidiary CLC (Collegiate Licensing Company) handles licensed merchandise for the university.
- Strategic Partnerships: They facilitate partnerships, such as with WRBH 88.3 FM for broadcasting women's basketball and baseball, which was extended through 2026.
A massive online meeting was planned for this afternoon for all employees of Learfield to explain the acquisition and its ramifications on the rights owner powerhouse.
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Doug has covered a gamut of sporting events in his fifty-plus years in the field. He started doing sideline reporting for Louisiana Tech football games for the student radio station. Doug was Sports Director for KNOE-AM/FM in Monroe in the mid-80s, winning numerous awards from the Louisiana Sports Writers Association for Best Sportscast and Best Play-by-Play. High school play-by-play for teams in Monroe, Natchitoches, New Orleans, and Thibodaux, LA dot his resume. He did college play-by-play for Northwestern State University in Natchitoches for nine years. Then, moving to the Crescent City, Doug did television PBP of Tulane games and even filled in for legendary Tulane broadcaster, Ken Berthelot in the only game Kenny ever missed while doing the Green Wave games. His father was an alumnus of Tulane in the 1940s, so Doug has attended Tulane football games in old Tulane Stadium, the Superdome, and Yulman. He was one of the 86,000 plus on December 1, 1973, sitting in the North End Zone to seeTulane shutout the LSU Tigers, 14-0. He was there when the Posse ruled Fogelman and in Turchin when the Wave made it to the World Series. He currently is the public address voice of the Tulane baseball team.