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The Boston College athletic department is not going to wait until it is formally introduced into the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) on July 1 to begin establishing its identity as the league's 12th member.
Athletic Director Gene DeFilippo announced Tuesday that BC has entered into a partnership with Fenway Sports Group (FSG) to develop year-round marketing of its collegiate sports programs as it heads into the ACC.
DeFilippo emphasized the "desire to be a national athletic department."
"As we prepare to enter the ACC, we recognize that this is a tremendous opportunity to expand our business and marketing activities around our athletics programs," he said. "Participation in the ACC will require us to be much more aggressive in pursuing corporate opportunities."
FSG is a subsidiary of New England Sports Ventures, which also owns the Boston Red Sox, Fenway Park, and 80 percent of the New England Sports Network (NESN). New England Sports Ventures created FSG last March to extend the scope of its business outside of baseball by using the resources of the Red Sox in marketing partnerships.
BC is the first major partner of FSG. The move to the ACC and the recent success of BC athletics made the University attractive to the group.
"We were committed from day one to only pursue tier-one opportunities," said Mike Dee, president of FSG and Red Sox chief operating officer.
Dee plans to focus on corporate sponsorship as well as aggressively marketing BC sports throughout New England and the nation.
"Our ambition to promote BC athletics goes beyond state lines," said Dee.
FSG is considering "There's a new league in town" as the possible new slogan for marketing BC in Boston.
Boston has long been known as a pro-sports only town, but Dee sees that as an opportunity for BC.
"One of the goals of the Fenway Sports Group is to make the casual fan, someone who didn't go to Boston College, a fan of BC," said Dee.
FSG announced Tuesday that it signed a five-year agreement with ISP, a sports marketing and media company based in Winston-Salem, N.C., to produce and sell BC football, men's basketball, and men's hockey radio broadcasts. ISP was founded in 1992 and is the radio rights holder for 23 schools, including five current ACC universities.
"The chance to work with FSG and Boston College is a great fit for ISP," said Ben Sutton, president of ISP Sports. "We worked with Virginia Tech and Miami in their move to the ACC this past year. We know the addition of the New England market is a great opportunity for the ACC."
Sutton and ISP will look to sign affiliates throughout New England to create what Dee called "a true Boston College radio network."
Commissioner John Swofford was also on hand Tuesday to offer his support to the new partnership and welcome the soon-to-be 12th member of the ACC.
"We couldn't be more pleased having BC come into this league," said Swofford. "It already feels like BC is in the league. We've operated from a business standpoint as twelve [teams] for some time.
"BC will boost our East Coast presence within the League and make it a truly Atlantic Coast Conference from New England to Florida," he said. "And I know FSG will go a long way in making that presence known."
Swofford has very high expectations for the conference, but he could only guarentee one thing. "I'll be here every spring to award Boston College the ACC ice hockey championship," he said.
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