For as long as senior associate director of athletics Alanna Shanahan can remember, one person was in charge of marketing Penn's 33 varsity teams.
And in her words: "I don't think we've had great success."
So Shanahan became the impetus for change this summer, helping the Athletic Department broker a deal with Nelligan Sports Marketing, a firm that has worked with numerous schools, atheletic conference and Fortune 500 companies.
"This is the first department-wide outsourcing since I've been here," she said.
Prior to the agreement, which was announced on Sept. 6, most of Penn's marketing initiatives were handled in-house, but some Penn Relays corporate sales were outsourced. (Nelligan will now handle all Penn Relays marketing.)
Not only will Nelligan utilize its regional and national sales force, but it will also place someone within Penn's Athletic Department.
The partnership marks an aggressive turn for Athletics as it is in the midst of Eastward Expansion plans and the University's broader Capital Campaign.
Among some early projects are highlighting the foot traffic through Pottruck and increasing the level of corporate signage in Franklin Field and the Palestra.
But when it comes to commercialism, the Ivy League is more conservative and has stricter rules than most conferences.
Nelligan has represented Princeton for several years and recently signed a deal with Brown. According to athletic director Steve Bilsky, "familiarity with the League was important" in selecting the firm.
"They've shown great sensitivity to the issues surrounding the Ivy League," Shanahan said.
There was some initial concern that Penn would be lost in the fold of Nelligan's "larger" franchises, like Louisville, Marquette, West Virginia and Rutgers.
Bilsky said those worries were allayed by the marketing firm.
"They see us as an 'elite' property among their 40," he said.
"Penn Relays has a lot to do with it - nobody else has Penn Relays; we do. Then there's Franklin Field and the Palestra - two national-level facilities."
The contract with Nelligan appears to have very little downside for the University. The firm guarantees to "make-whole" its new client if results do not materialize, while Penn has agreed to pay Nelligan based on certain revenue targets.
Among the major corporations with which Nelligan deals are Bank of America, Coca-Cola, Philips, United Parcel Service and Verizon. The firm also represents four conferences, including the Pacific-10.
Bilsky has faith that advertising dollars will eventually trickle in, and at the very least, the deal seems to be win-win.
"It might be two or three years before we see some significant payout," Bilsky said. "But we have the confidence that we won't do any less than we've already been doing, so we think there's plenty of upside.
"If everybody is successful, they make money, we make money."
