Virginia Commonwealth University Athletics and Learfield Extend Decade
RICHMOND, Va. – (June 10, 2025) Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Athletics has extended its decade-long partnership with Learfield, the media and technology company powering college athletics. The long-term extension reinforces Learfield’s role as VCU’s exclusive multimedia and sponsorship rights partner through VCU Sports Properties. Together, they will continue to strengthen the university’s athletic programs with […]
RICHMOND, Va. – (June 10, 2025) Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Athletics has extended its decade-long partnership with Learfield, the media and technology company powering college athletics. The long-term extension reinforces Learfield’s role as VCU’s exclusive multimedia and sponsorship rights partner through VCU Sports Properties. Together, they will continue to strengthen the university’s athletic programs with a strategic focus on revenue generation, Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) opportunities, content development, and data-driven initiatives.
“VCU Athletics and Learfield have set the pace for innovation in college athletics the last decade and this contract extension shows the strength of this partnership,” said Ed McLaughlin, Vice President & Director of Athletics at VCU. “VCU Sports Properties has excelled in finding NIL opportunities for our Rams throughout the Richmond community and the entire Central Virginia region. Learfield’s relationship-based approach has helped unlock partnerships that align with our values and grow our revenue, especially during a time when all college athletic departments need it. Our goal of building the most successful basketball-powered property in the country remains in good hands with this historic contract extension.”
Through this enhanced partnership, VCU Sports Properties will bring valuable NIL opportunities, intellectual property usage, branded experiences, and original content to the forefront of its sponsorship efforts. VCU will continue to leverage Learfield’s comprehensive sponsorship solutions and expanded services to drive revenue growth. These data-driven strategies have already delivered strong results, with the average sponsorship deal size more than doubling in recent years and over 20 brand partners integrating NIL into their campaigns. As VCU’s brand value and market appeal continue to grow among local, regional, and national brands, VCU Sports Properties secured a record-breaking partnership with Virginia Credit Union, now recognized as the Official Credit Union of VCU Athletics.
As an enterprise-wide partner, VCU also utilizes Learfield’s licensed merchandise agency CLC, digital sports solutions provider SIDEARM Sports, and Learfield’s ticketing, fundraising, and marketing provider Paciolan. Additionally, the agreement delivers more value by tapping into Learfield’s data and digital expertise, powered by Fanbase, the most comprehensive fan data infrastructure in college athletics. Demographic, geographic, and profile data metrics can be used by the multimedia rights team and the VCU Athletics staff to better target Rams fans and maximize brand partnership opportunities.
“It’s an exciting new chapter in our partnership with Ed and VCU Athletics,” said Meghan Heinchon, Executive Vice President of Sports Properties at Learfield. “VCU is positioning itself as a leader in athletics, and we’re excited to help them experience extraordinary growth, especially in strategic sponsorships, revenue generation and NIL programs for their student-athletes.”
As part of the renewal, the VCU Sports Properties team expanded to include a new, dedicated Content Specialist role that works to produce student-athlete-branded content campaigns. The recent addition will create further opportunities to amplify student-athlete storytelling and social influencer opportunities through content creation.
About Learfield Learfield is the media and technology company powering college athletics. Through its digital and physical platforms, Learfield owns and leverages a deep data set and relationships in the industry to drive revenue, growth, brand awareness, and fan engagement for brands, sports, and entertainment properties. With ties to over 1,200 collegiate institutions and over 12,000 local and national brand partners, Learfield’s presence in college sports and live events delivers influence and maximizes reach to target audiences. With solutions for a 365-day, 24/7 fan experience, Learfield enables schools and brands to connect with fans through licensed merchandise, game ticketing, donor identification for athletic programs, exclusive custom content, innovative marketing initiatives, NIL solutions, and advanced digital platforms. Since 2008, it has served as title sponsor for the acclaimed Learfield Directors’ Cup, supporting athletic departments across all divisions.
The Big Ten and SEC have been encouraging the College Football Playoff landscape to change, and the NCAA has yet to find a stable, consistent format that makes everyone happy. The 2024-25 CFP format was a 12-team playoff bracket with the five, highest-ranked conference champions receiving automatic bids. The top four conference champions received a […]
The Big Ten and SEC have been encouraging the College Football Playoff landscape to change, and the NCAA has yet to find a stable, consistent format that makes everyone happy.
The 2024-25 CFP format was a 12-team playoff bracket with the five, highest-ranked conference champions receiving automatic bids. The top four conference champions received a bye in the first-round. The other seven spots were filled out by the highest-ranked teams remaining, according to the CFP Selection Committee. This format revised the original bracket that included the six, highest-ranked conference champions with the leftover spots filled by the six, highest-ranked teams remaining.
Heading into he 2025-26 season, the picture is still under revision.
How the College Football Playoffs format could look in 2025-26
In May 2025, the CFP format was officially tweaked again, according to ESPN. It was decided that CFP would take on a straight seeding format with the highest-ranked conference champions still receiving an automatic bid. The four highest-ranked of all 12 qualifying teams, regardless of if they are a conference champion or not, would receive a bye in the first-round.
This still did not appease all conferences in the NCAA, notably the Big Ten and SEC. In return, the commissioners decided for a total do-over, according to Brett McMurphy on X, to determine what the 2026 CFP format will look like.
The Big Ten and SEC pushed for their conferences to have four automatic qualifiers and the ACC and Big 12 to have two per conference. As expected, the ACC and Big 12 opposed this pitch and eventually the SEC followed suit. Instead, the SEC, ACC, and Big 12 openly supported the 16-team playoff bracket with five automatic qualifiers and 11 at-large teams.
The Big Ten and SEC butt heads over regular season schedules influencing the CFP format
Alongside the 16-team bracket, the SEC wants strength-of-schedule to be an important deciding factor for the committee wen ranking teams. Not only does the conference as a whole support this but so do individual players.
Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia said on a podcast that certain conferences are not challenged week after week in the regular season.
“You want to play with the best – you don’t want to play with the Big Ten … You ignore those calls,” Pavia said on the “Bussin’ With The Boys” podcast, according to Spartans Wire. ” … The SEC, it’s like week after week. You’re going to get beat on. The Big Ten, you’re not gonna get beat on with the Purdue, Nebraskas.”
Determining the playoff bracket with strength-of-schedule being one of the most important factors, though, also leads to some questions. If SEC schools, like Vanderbilt, were thrown into schedules from other conferences, it can’t be said for certain that they wouldn’t struggle.
Some conferences also don’t play the same number of league games, which goes into their schedule strength or lack thereof. The SEC, for example, plays eight league games while the Big Ten plays nine in the regular season. The Big Ten has also encouraged playing an SEC school in the regular season, but the SEC continues to oppose this idea.
“I don’t think there’s any way we can do a 16-team playoff if [the SEC is] not at nine,” Illinois head coach Bret Bielema said.
As for Penn State, committee bias remains a larger issue.
“There’s all these complaints about the BCS, but then we go to this, and I think it goes back to really, my answer is, the problem is, everybody voting and everybody involved in the process — whether you want to be biased or not, we all are biased,” Franklin said, according to CBS Sports in early June.
When commenting on selection committee bias, though, the Nittany Lions’ 2025 playoff fate was not something fixing bias would change. If anything, switching to a 16-team bracket would help improve objectivity as opposed to the Big Ten-pitched model that automatically gave two conferences eight playoff seeds.
At the latest, the 2026 CFP format must be finalized on Dec. 1. With the straight seed format still in consideration and conferences throwing in their wants and opinions, the playoff landscape will likely be up in the air for a while.
Texas Tech softball is going all in a year after Gerry Glasco's arrival
Gerry Glasco was hired as head coach of the Texas Tech softball team on June 20, 2024. A year later, the Red Raiders have gone from afterthought to headliner, occupying a space in the world of college softball never seen in Lubbock. Hours after the Red Raiders returned from their run in the Women’s College […]
Gerry Glasco was hired as head coach of the Texas Tech softball team on June 20, 2024. A year later, the Red Raiders have gone from afterthought to headliner, occupying a space in the world of college softball never seen in Lubbock.
Hours after the Red Raiders returned from their run in the Women’s College World Series, Glasco, his staff and the boosters supporting the program started building toward 2026. First came the commitment of Ohio State catcher Jasmyn Burns. A few days later, the second wave came in with Florida’s Mia Williams, UCLA’s Kaitlyn Terry and Southern Illinois’ Jackie Lis entering the fray.
Then came the commitment of Tennessee’s Taylor Pannell, who hit the transfer portal and pledged to the Red Raiders in the span of a few hours. And on Wednesday night, El Paso native and New Mexico State two-way player Desirae Spearman added her name to the list.
These moves have generated numerous headlines, not all of which are positive. Texas Tech has been accused of tampering — being in contact with players before the end of their seasons with their respective teams — to put together this transfer portal haul. Hearsay is enticing, creates buzz and generates clicks bosses love. The initial claim caught much more traction than another story, from the Austin American-Statesman, which poked several holes in the story from SI, but Tech’s reputation had shifted altogether regardless.
In two week’s time, Glasco has gone from the feel-good story of the sport to the leader of college softball’s equivalent to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The star power brought in to join NiJaree Canady in Lubbock is something never seen before in the sport, and most people aren’t sure how to handle it.
Texas Tech is the new kid on the block, operating behind a group of wealthy alumni motivated to stake a claim in a sport it had little relevance in this time last year. The turn from baby face to heel was swift, sudden and unexpected, causing a ripple effect throughout the sport. It started with bringing Canady to Lubbock, and now the Red Raiders are ready for their second act.
Texas Tech softball roster for 2026 after transfer portal additions, losses
Here’s where the Red Raider roster stands for the 2026 season after the transfer portal window for softball players has closed. Players are listed by school year for the 2025-26 academic calendar.
SENIORS: NiJaree Canady (pitcher/utility), Jackie Lis (infielder), Mihyia Davis (outfielder), Victoria Valdez (catcher), Alana Johnson (outfielder), Chloe Riassetto (pitcher)
JUNIORS: Lauren Allred (first base), Mia Williams (second base), Taylor Pannell (third base), Kaitlyn Terry (pitcher/outfielder), Jasmyn Burns (catcher), Logan Halleman (utility), Makayla Garcia (utility), Desirae Spearman (pitcher/outfielder)
SOPHOMORES: Hailey Toney (shortstop), Samantha Lincoln (pitcher)
FRESHMEN: Mallie West (pitcher), Cimone Edge (first base/catcher), Timber Hensley (pitcher/utility), Mia Richards (first base/catcher)
DEPARTURES: Exhausted eligibility — Alexa Langeliers and Demi Elder; Entered transfer portal — Bailey Lindemuth, Raegan Jennings, Brenlee Gonzales, Sydney Shiller, Anya German and Kiley Huffman.
Why Texas Tech softball’s transfer portal haul is significant
The Red Raiders have all but sewn up their roster for the 2026 roster after Spearman’s commitment. Another name or two could come up in the next week or two, but they could sit tight if they so choose to.
Now the attention turns to putting all these new pieces together, making them fit into a new puzzle. The onus is on Glasco to do just that.
Prior to the 2025 season, Texas Tech had four players in program history named All-Americans by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association. The 2026 team is slated to have four players who were NFCA All-Americans during the 2025 season alone. Canady and Burns were first-team selections while Williams and Pannell were second-team selections.
Texas Tech hit a total of 60 home runs as a team last year. Williams, Pannell, Burns, Lis, Terry and Spearman hit a combined 93 dingers themselves.
Williams, Terry and Lis have been officially announced as signings. Tech is expected to announce the signings of Burns and Pannell in the coming days, Spearman committed late Wednesday night.
Transfer additions have garnered the most attention, though the Red Raiders also have important pieces who have decided to stick around. Mihyia Davis, Hailey Toney, Alana Johnson and Lauren Allred should all return to the starting lineup in 2026. Victoria Valdez is back as well, though her starting catcher spot seems gone with the addition of Burns.
Moving pieces abound for the Red Raiders right now, which makes fall ball even more important for Texas Tech this year. Competition exists for several players on the roster, and team depth is a bit stronger than it was in 2025.
Texas Tech softball building for 2026 and beyond
While the focus for Texas Tech will be to finish things off with a national championship in 2026, something the Red Raiders came so close to doing in Year 1 under Glasco, the moves made over the last few weeks weren’t intended as one-year investments.
Among the in-coming transfers (so far), Lis in the only senior for the 2025-26 season. Williams, Pannell, Terry, Spearman and Burns will also be juniors next season, as will Allred, and Toney will be a sophomore. The entire projected starting infield will have multiple years together, giving Texas Tech a foundation beyond 2026.
Just how will this all work by the time the season officially starts in February? Nobody knows for sure. A year ago, the question was who exactly was going to be in a Red Raider uniform by the time Glasco coached his first game at Texas Tech. This is a much better problem to have for any coach.
AI-assisted summary Texas baseball secured a commitment from Seton Hall outfielder Aiden Robbins, a top transfer portal player. Robbins, a two-year eligible player, boasts impressive 2025 stats including a .422 batting average and All-Big East honors. Known for his strong defense and speed, Robbins is expected to start immediately for the Longhorns. Robbins joins recent […]
Robbins, who primarily plays right field, has two years of eligibility left. In 2025, Robbins hit .422 with six home runs, 38 RBIs and 63 runs scored. He was a 1st-team All-Big East selection.
Robbins played high school ball at Holy Ghost Preparatory school in Yardley, Pennsylvania, before signing with Seton Hall. He figures to be a potential day one starter in the outfield. Robbins, known for his defense, had zero errors in the 2025 season. He also will add speed to the basepaths for the Longhorns.
The commitment comes on the heels of two other transfer portal commitments from former Mississippi State pitcher Luke Dotson and Georgia State utility player Kaleb Freeman. Robbins is the second outfield transfer Texas has picked up in the portal, joining Butler’s Jack Moroknek. Texas is looking to add depth in the outfield after losing Tommy Farmer IV to the portal and Max Belyeu (most likely) to the Major League Baseball draft.
Questions remain over foreign college athletes, NIL money
Kristi Dosh, an attorney and reporter who has covered the business of college sports as well or better than anyone during the turbulence of NIL and the transfer portal era, last week said a leading immigration attorney told her that foreign athletes continue to be ineligible to get NIL money. I listened to her interview […]
Kristi Dosh, an attorney and reporter who has covered the business of college sports as well or better than anyone during the turbulence of NIL and the transfer portal era, last week said a leading immigration attorney told her that foreign athletes continue to be ineligible to get NIL money. I listened to her interview on Sirius XM Channel 84, a college sports channel.
How can that be? That would mean former Arizona basketball player Henri Veesaar, who transferred to North Carolina, will not receive any money from the Tar Heels. I can’t believe he transferred from Arizona to North Carolina so quickly after the season without a pile of money as incentive.
If what Dosh says is true, that means Arizona foreign basketball players Mo Krivas, Dwayne Aristode and Anthony Dell’Orso, among others, are playing strictly for scholarship money and cannot be part of the estimated $3 million Tommy Lloyd will get from the new revenue-sharing plan for his athletes. Not a chance.
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Baylor guard Robert Wright III drives to the basket against Arizona guard Anthony Dell’Orso during the first half Feb. 17, 2025, in Waco, Texas.
Julio Cortez, Associated Press
If you wish to become educated on the implementation of the House settlement for college athletics, the NCAA has made a 35-page document available at tucne.ws/house.
I read it. It took more than an hour and I still wasn’t certain what is legal and what isn’t. Good luck.
Dig deeper into Arizona Daily Star columnist Greg Hansen’s notebook
Legislation would give protections to Michigan college athletes seeking name, image, likeness deals
There’s new legislation in Lansing aimed at preventing universities and other groups from interfering with Michigan college athletes earning money by marketing their name, image, or likeness —also known as NIL. NIL has become a profitable sideline for many Michigan athletes. Analysts say those deals can be worth millions of dollars, though most are more […]
There’s new legislation in Lansing aimed at preventing universities and other groups from interfering with Michigan college athletes earning money by marketing their name, image, or likeness —also known as NIL.
NIL has become a profitable sideline for many Michigan athletes. Analysts say those deals can be worth millions of dollars, though most are more modest.
But a recent settlement of a national anti-trust lawsuit may change the game.
The House v. NCAAsettlement was finalized earlier this month. It resolves multiple antitrust lawsuits against the NCAA and its member schools, awarding $2.8 billion in back pay to athletes who were denied the chance to profit from their name, image, or likeness between 2016 and 2024.
The settlement also creates a framework for future revenue sharing between schools and student-athletes, allowing schools to directly pay athletes for NIL rights, and introduces new roster limits to replace scholarship limits.
However, a clause in the settlement that establishes a special commission to assess deals that student athletes can get is not being welcomed by NIL supporters.
Ramogi Huma, the executive director of the National College Players Association, said he believes such a commission would cost athletes.
“If such violations of Michigan’s NIL law do take place, it could cost Michigan college athletes tens of millions of dollars in NIL compensation each year,” said Huma.
And Thomas Dieters, the board president of Charitable Gift America, a group that negotiates NIL deals, sees the commission as essentially being unfair to student athletes.
“School administrators and coaches are very quick to negotiate their own seven figure contracts without a third party determining their value,” said Dieters, “Students should have those exact same rights.”
Former State House Speaker Joe Tate (D-Detroit) is a former standout athlete at Michigan State University, as well as a player in the National Football League. He’s currently running for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat in 2026.
Tate’s bill would block schools, conferences, governing bodies and other groups from interfering with athletes cutting their own NIL deals.
“One of the things that this legislation looks to do were not only protecting student athletes in their ability to take advantage of their name, image, and likeness — also empowering them,” said Tate.
A University of Michigan Athletics spokesperson declined to comment on the legislation.
James Franklin predicts how enforcement will change under College Sports Commission
After receiving long-awaited approval, the House v. NCAA settlement is now beginning its implementation process. The College Sports Commission is also now part of the landscape, tasked with enforcing key terms of the agreement. The newly formed entity – led by former Major League Baseball executive Bryan Seeley – will take the lead on enforcing […]
After receiving long-awaited approval, the House v. NCAA settlement is now beginning its implementation process. The College Sports Commission is also now part of the landscape, tasked with enforcing key terms of the agreement.
The newly formed entity – led by former Major League Baseball executive Bryan Seeley – will take the lead on enforcing rules in place under the settlement. Once Judge Claudia Wilken granted final approval, the commission launched and named Seeley as CEO shortly thereafter.
Penn State coach James Franklin previewed what the new enforcement model will look like. He acknowledged there could be some bumps in the road, but he’s hoping for a more streamlined process when it comes to making decisions.
“This is not going to be one of these things that we’ve all kind of grown up with under the NCAA where it goes on for two years and a lot of times, the coach is gone and the next coach is coming in and having to deal with it. … This is going to be something where decisions are going to be made and made swiftly,” Franklin told Urban Meyer on The Triple Option. “Very similar to, I think maybe a Major League Baseball model, an NFL model, is what they are trying to bring to college football.
“So I think in theory, I think you’ll like what they’re trying to do. As we both know, the theory of it and the reality are two different things, and there’s going to be some growing pains as we work through it. I’m hopeful.”
James Franklin: ‘I’m still learning every single day’
While the College Sports Commission will not replace the NCAA as far as enforcement goes, its key tasks will center around the House settlement. Topics such as revenue-sharing, roster limits and the new NIL Go clearinghouse will fall under its purview, and Bryan Seeley brings a strong investigative background from his time in MLB as executive vice president of legal and operations.
Documents also showed some of the policies in place by the CSC, including membership. The agreements spell out that institutions must waive their right to sue the commission, and schools could risk being kicked out if they don’t sign.
While James Franklin has not yet seen those specific documents, he pointed out the importance of signing. He also acknowledged the implementation committee in place to help lead the charge into the post-House world.
“Even when we were at Big Ten meetings, that still [was not] something that was out there for all of us to see, that they’re still working through the details,” Franklin said. “I think a lot of this, they were waiting until the judge formally made the decision. And then, there’s the implementation committee – partly from the NCAA, commissioners, athletic directors, that are part of implementing, basically, the House rules. And it’s going to go from there.
“We’re still learning, I’m still learning every single day and getting more information. But what has been explained to me, I think they’re hopeful, is the best way to describe it, that we can move in this direction.”
Gerry Glasco was hired as head coach of the 
