PLANO, Texas (June 12, 2013) – Learfield Sports announced today that it has reached an agreement with Max Media of Montana for the television broadcast group to be the exclusive local telecast sponsor for two of its collegiate properties – Montana State University and the University of Montana.
Learfield Sports is the athletics multimedia rights holder for the two universities, driven locally through its on-campus entities, Grizzly Sports Properties (UM) and Bobcat Sports Properties (MSU). The agreement calls for Max Media to produce and telecast four football games in the 2013-’14 season, while both athletic departments will retain exclusive streaming rights to ensure fans can watch games on the respective official athletic websites (GoGriz.com and MSUBobcats.com).
Through regional distributors, Learfield Sports and Max Media also will aggressively collaborate to expand distribution for both universities beyond state lines in order to reach a larger fan base. Max Media of Montana not only has rights to four games but will also produce and distribute the 30-minute Grizzly Sports Report and Bobcat Sports Report for UM and MSU, respectively. As per the agreement, Max Media can distribute its rights to its ABC and FOX stations in Missoula, Kalispell, Butte, Bozeman, Great Falls, Helena and the Billings’ NBC affiliate, in addition to stations in home viewing areas in close proximity to UM and MSU.
The four games Max Media will distribute are Montana State vs. Monmouth University (Aug. 29); Montana vs. Appalachian State (Aug. 31); Montana State vs. Colorado Mesa (Sept. 14) and Montana vs. Oklahoma Panhandle State (Sept. 21).
“This is a win-win for both the University of Montana and Montana State, as our agreement with Max Media will ensure both schools are poised to gain a much broader visibility,” said Learfield Sports’ Chief Content Officer Joe Ferreira. “We’re excited to help increase the reach for Bobcat and Grizzly football throughout the state and beyond, and know this will be an effective avenue to enable more fans to connect with the school brands, as well as the passion and excitement of their programs.”
Max Media Montana President Linda Gray said, “We are thrilled to partner with Learfield Sports to bring our viewers more quality MSU and UM football broadcasts. This will be Max Media’s tenth year producing and airing a schedule of MSU games and our second year of UM games. Our enthusiasm for the conference and the teams continues to skyrocket.”
About Max Media
Max Media of Montana LLC operates both ABC and FOX stations in Missoula, Kalispell, Butte, Bozeman, Great Falls and Helena. The company also operates the NBC station in Billings.
Its parent company, Max Media LLC, acquires, builds and operates television and radio stations throughout the United States. Headquartered in Virginia Beach, Virginia, Max currently owns and/or operates television stations throughout Montana and in Portland, Maine, Bowling Green, Kentucky and Puerto Rico. Its radio stations are located in Arkansas, Colorado, Missouri, Illinois, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
About Learfield
Grizzly Sports Properties and Bobcat Sports Properties are properties of Learfield Sports, which manages multimedia rights for more than 50 collegiate institutions and associations also titles the prestigious Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup. The company’s multimedia rights encompass numerous content distribution platforms to deliver the passion of college athletics across radio, television and digital networks to fans globally. Today, Learfield Sports’ exclusive sports programming reaches more than 50 million television households nationally and delivers nearly 17,000 hours of radio programming on more than 1,100 radio stations. For more about the company’s 40-year history and complete collegiate portfolio, visit www.learfieldsports.com.