“I thought for us to maximize our opportunities, our branding, our impressions, we needed to find a great regional partner. We did a real deep dive on building an infrastructure that could attract a partner. We created a pathway with Delaware North TD Garden.” – Jeff Konya, Northeastern University AD
TD Garden, one of the country’s premiere arenas and home to the NHL’s Boston Bruins and NBA’s Boston Celtics, announced a strategic partnership to become the exclusive multimedia rights holder for Northeastern University Athletics. It starts this season.
“We had a relationship with Delaware North playing in the Beanpot and Hockey East,” Konya told CollegeAD. “They really have an appetite for trying to generate revenue opportunities outside the walls of the TD Garden.”
Konya says it just so happens when Northeastern went to market, Delaware North was interested.
“It was kind of serendipity that our two organizations came together with a unique and interesting alliance.”
Under this partnership, Delaware North and Northeastern Athletics will provide corporate brands and fans with new and innovative sponsorship and multimedia opportunities.
“We had great ratings. Everything from our programming to student-athlete awards was generating ratings on our platforms. It creates some interest in your product (from) an advertising and financial standpoint. It was certainly a major factor in creating interest in Northeastern.”
A few of the items the partnership entails are game-day assets at Northeastern’s four home venues in Boston, Brookline and Dedham, additional media assets via television and radio, as well as the utilization of the university’s alumni affinity for Northeastern Athletics.
The deal represents some really outside-the-box thinking in college media agreements. Konya says they explored all options, including more traditional agreements, but TD Garden was the right opportunity at the right time.
“There was just something so unique about the opportunity with TD Garden, with the assets they have at their disposal and the people. The people that represented TD Garden were phenomenal. We had the same DNA; that DNA of innovation and creativity.”
The partnership between TD Garden and Northeastern University will extend through the 2023-24 season. Dan Gale of Leona Marketing Group consulted and assisted on the formation of this partnership.
This story first appeared in The NightCap, CollegeAD’s evening newsletter. The NightCap delivers the day’s college athletics news in simple bullet points, giving you what you need to know in just a few lines. Get The NightCap today.