IMG’s Sports Dwarfed W.Va. Radio Bid For WVU Sports

West Virginia Radio Corp. projected the WVU Athletics Department would earn $5.7 million over the next 10 years if the university let the company handle its multimedia rights, according to bid documents obtained by the Charleston Daily Mail.

Meanwhile, eventual rights winner IMG College was initially willing to guarantee West Virginia University $78.3 million over the next 10 years if it was awarded the rights.

Last month, WVU signed a 12-year deal with North Carolina-based IMG allowing the company to manage the athletic department's so-called Tier 3 multimedia rights, which include radio, digital and some television.

IMG agreed to pay the university a guaranteed minimum of $86.5 million over the next 12 years. It was the second time IMG prevailed in WVU's multimedia rights bidding process.

On Thursday, following a Freedom of Information Act request, WVU provided the Daily Mail with copies of all proposals submitted during both bid processes.

They range from simple, typed pages outlining plans to elaborate, 70-plus-page presentations containing artist renderings and audio and video demonstrations.

In its first proposal, submitted last October, IMG guaranteed WVU a minimum of $78.3 million in royalties and other payments over the next 10 years. It also included a sample audio clip of what its radio broadcasts would sound like.

It also included drawings of potential stadium upgrades, including new scoreboards and video monitors, and the placement of other advertising.

Morgantown-based West Virginia Radio had the least-thorough proposal in the first round. West Virginia Radio proposed keeping in place the current structure of the athletic department's Mountaineer Sports Network, which handled WVU's multimedia rights for decades.

Instead of outsourcing that department, West Virginia Radio touted the advantages and popularity of its award-winning broadcast team, four members of which had accumulated more than 30,000 followers on Twitter, and the statewide network of radio affiliates the company already has in place.

It also touted past marketing successes for the university, claiming the success of the "Stripe the Stadium" promotion at last year's Baylor game was a result of more than $50,000 in free radio advertising provided by the company to promote the event.

WVA Radio Corp. is now suing in Monongalia County Circuit Court, and according to AP  is asking a judge to block the deal and reset the clock to June as it tries to salvage broadcasting work it had for 70 years. WVU has declined comment on the litigation.

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