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CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - The University of Northern Iowa announced today that it has selected Learfield Sports to retain the comprehensive multimedia rights for Panther Athletics for the next eight years, effective with the 2009-2010 academic year.

The Learfield Sports' partnership marks a first of its kind for UNI. The company manages multimedia rights for nearly 50 collegiate institutions and associations and immediately will establish "Panther Sports Properties" as the locally based entity to manage and sell multimedia and sponsorship rights for UNI Athletics. These include certain television rights, radio, signage in McLeod Center and the UNI-Dome, corporate hospitality, print sponsorships, event marketing and official athletic Web site advertising.

UNI now joins Southern Illinois University as the two Missouri Valley Conference member schools in Learfield Sports' portfolio. The University of Iowa and Iowa State University also are represented by Learfield Sports.

"We are excited to partner with Learfield Sports and establish Panther Sports Properties as our signature marketing entity for UNI Athletics," UNI interim director of athletics Mark Farley said.

"We're pleased for this opportunity to represent UNI, and we look forward to enhancing the exposure of Panther Athletics by building on its already strong corporate sponsor program," said Learfield Sports' President Greg Brown. "We're excited to support the UNI athletic department, which has experienced a great deal of success through its respective Missouri Valley, Gateway and Western Wrestling Conferences.

Other universities in the Learfield Sports' portfolio include North Carolina, Memphis, Texas A&M, Kansas State, Indiana, Minnesota and Wisconsin. The Dallas-based company also manages the marketing partnerships for the Black Coaches & Administrators (BCA) and provides exclusive sports programming to more than 1,000 radio stations nationwide.

Learfield Sports is an operating unit of Jefferson City, Mo.-based Learfield Communications, Inc., which made its initial foray into the world of sports marketing in 1975 as the radio rights holder for the University of Missouri, a client still today. Additionally, Team Services, LLC, a Learfield Sports company, specializes in venue naming rights, marketing research and sales consultation. To learn more about the company, visit learfieldsports.com.