Utah is moving on from JMI and handing its multimedia rights to Crimson Brand Partners, athletic director Mark Harlan said Friday morning.
JMI had handled Utah’s multimedia rights since the 2024-25 athletic season, overseeing things like radio broadcast licensing and corporate sponsorships. Harlan made clear the school appreciated what the company did during its run.
“JMI Sports was a true partner to this department from day one,” said Harlan in a statement.
“They took on our multimedia rights portfolio and grew it with new partners and upsells, record revenue growth and marquee asset sales. That kind of work does not happen without a real commitment to this program, and we are thankful for all their work. I also want to thank (JMI CEO) Erik Judson and his team for their collaboration and care of the Utah brand.”
The new setup puts Crimson Brand Partners in charge of those rights moving forward. The for-profit company was created as part of Utah’s private-equity deal with Otro Capital, and when it was first announced, it was already expected to replace JMI in managing the school’s multimedia business.
Crimson Brand Partners CEO Matt Webb comes to the job with experience in pro sports, having previously served as vice president of corporate sponsorships for the New Orleans Saints and New Orleans Pelicans. He’ll be part of the push to bring in more sponsorship dollars as Utah looks to grow revenue.
Harlan laid out the broader pitch at Big 12 media day, explaining that the school is now selling something bigger than athletics alone.
“Crimson Brand Partners, one of the big pieces of it, and I know I’ve talked about it publicly, but I have to always reinforce it, is it’s no longer just athletic assets. It’s University of Utah assets in a very meticulous, professional way,” Harlan said at Big 12 media day.
“And so now the pitches are different. Now you’re pitching to the big companies, the ones that have real money and want to create a really deep relationship, now get to look around the campus and yes, they get all the athletic assets if they want them, and so that process is underway.
We’ve already seen some really interesting conversations of interest because we’ve never been able to offer it that way before, if that makes sense. So this day and age, big deals really come down to partnerships
“I give Ryan (Smith) and his group downtown, they’ve created these deep relationships and that’s what we’re going to create and I think we’re already seeing some early returns.”
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