Pac-12 Networks, SIDEARM Sports Partner to Power Official Athletic Sites

Pac-12 Networks and SIDEARM Sports have agreed to a multi-year partnership to provide a unified platform to power the Conference member universities’ official athletic sites.  With the agreement, SIDEARM and Pac-12 Networks will foster innovation across a common technology platform with an aggregated audience on mobile and web.

The agreement enables Pac-12 Networks to package all digital video inventory of the official athletic sites and a share of display inventory. Ownership and control of this inventory provides Pac-12 Networks more flexibility to package digital assets with media and Conference assets for sponsors and advertisers.

The universities’ official athletic sites represent an essential connection for the fans, providing important information and the most in-depth coverage about their favorite universities and student-athletes. In addition, the sites offer key touch points with fans for ticketing, video content, news, development, and recruiting.

“We are excited to work with SIDEARM to strengthen our unified platform while giving our schools the tools to better connect with their fans and celebrate their individual brands,” says David Aufhauser, VP of Pac-12 Digital. “With this agreement, we are in a great position to leverage an innovative, video centric digital platform across all of our Pac-12 Networks assets.”

SIDEARM’s mobile friendly publishing platform offers maximum flexibility and delivers an innovative set of tools, including HD streaming, fan database aggregation, social platform integration, snapshot graphics, and data visualization, all designed to create the most customized and engaging fan experience for each university.

“SIDEARM prides itself on delivering an easy-to-use content management system to provide custom digital solutions to our college and university partners. Being selected by the PAC-12 to provide these mission-critical services to the conference member universities is an honor and further validation of the services we provide,” says Jeff Rubin, President and CEO for SIDEARM Sports. “Clearly the Pac-12 schools are outstanding brands in the collegiate landscape, and we’re excited to work with the league and be the new provider for its members, showcasing some incredible ways they can speak to their fans.”

The SIDEARM platform will roll out to 11 of 12 Pac-12 universities at the beginning of the 2016-17 academic year, with USC coming on the platform in June 2017.