ODU Athletics Announces Multimedia Rights Partnership with CBS Collegiate Sports Properties

Old Dominion University Athletics has agreed to a 10-year multimedia rights partnership with CBS Collegiate Sports Properties, as announced today by Athletic Director Jim Jarrett. CBS Collegiate Sports Properties will manage all of the Athletic Department's marketing and multimedia assets. Additionally, CBS Collegiate Sports Properties will make capital commitments over the next 10 years, to include video/LED scoreboards at Foreman Field and the Bud Metheny Baseball Complex, as well as upgraded signage at the Ted Constant Convocation Center.

"We are extremely pleased to partner with CBS Collegiate Sports Properties," said Jarrett. "Their track record at other universities across the country makes them the right team to help us maximize the opportunities available for our new football program and our overall athletic department."

Under the terms of the agreement, which is expected to be finalized by September 1, CBS Collegiate Sports Properties is responsible for generating sponsorship revenue through a variety of media outlets, including television and radio game broadcasts and coaches shows, print and Internet; on-premise signage at ODU's athletic venues; and promotional events through ODU Sports Properties, its on-the-ground team at the University. Chuck Gray, director of corporate sponsorships for ODU athletics for the past nine years, will serve as general manager of ODU Sports Properties.

"The growth of our athletic program over the past few years has been very exciting, and the need for additional revenue made us look into ways to maximize our advertising opportunities," said Debbie White, senior associate athletic director. "Our top priority was to secure a partner who not only would help us reach the department's goals, but also understand and appreciate our University and community culture. CBS Collegiate Sports Properties fits that description."

"It is an exciting time in the life of Old Dominion Athletics, and we at CBS Collegiate Sports Properties are thrilled to be a part of it," said Doug Paschal, vice president and general manager of CBS Collegiate Sports Properties. "We look forward to tailoring the creative approach that has been successful at other properties to the needs of Old Dominion and to welcoming ODU to our select family of collegiate partners."

With a significant corporate sales and marketing presence in Charlottesville, CBS Collegiate Sports Properties is a leader in the collegiate sports marketing industry, and it is a subsidiary of CBS Outdoor, one of the world's largest out-of-home media companies and a division of the CBS Corporation., Its partners include the University of Virginia, the University of Maryland, the United States Air Force Academy, the University of Utah, Louisiana State University, and Northwestern and Arizona State universities. www.cbscsp.com.

Old Dominion will field its first football team since 1940 in the fall of 2009, and it will compete as a member of the Colonial Athletic Association in the NCAA's football championship subdivision. The team will play its home games on campus at Foreman Field, a stadium completed in 1936. A "Game Day" building, which will house 24 luxury suites and 400 loge seats, currently, is under construction in the south end zone, along with an adjacent 700-car parking garage. In addition, the stadium will be updated to include priority cushioned seats and refurbishments for press facilities, restrooms, and concessions..

Old Dominion's intercollegiate curriculum includes 18 sports, with women's rowing beginning its first season in September.

For more information, contact the ODU Athletic Public Relations office at 757-683-3372.