Posted on: Thursday, June 5, 2003

UH will end marketing deal with Steinberg

By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer

The University of Hawai'i will end its $350,000 annual marketing contract with Leigh Steinberg Enterprises at the end of the month and will resume control of its marketing operations internally.

Hawai'i athletic director Herman Frazier yesterday said the decision to implement an "in-house" marketing department was recommended by Steinberg, who will continue to aid the department as a consultant.

The one-year marketing contract between the UH athletic department and Steinberg expires June 30. The original contract was signed in 2000 and has been renewed for the past two years.

The Steinberg group — which has headquarters in California and has several high-profile clients, including UH football coach June Jones — has raised more than $1 million annually in marketing revenue since signing the original contract, Frazier said.

An "in-house" marketing department could save the athletic department up to $500,000 annually, according Frazier. The decision to go "in-house" comes at a time when the athletic department is facing a $1 million annual deficit.

"We had a wonderful relationship with Leigh Steinberg over the years with our marketing," Frazier said. "Now we reached a point in the pinnacle whereby it's now going to come in-house with us handling the day-to-day operations of it."

Frazier said the savings will not be used to sign Jones to a contract extension, but will be injected "to our operation budget for the program to sustain all the programs that we run during the course of the year." Steinberg represents Jones, whose five-year contract expires in January 2004.

Steinberg yesterday said the marketing contract was never meant to be long term. He said the plan was to stimulate the athletic program and eventually return it to local control. Last year, the marketing department raised $1.7 million, Steinberg said.

"We came in here to do a specific job for the University and accomplished it well beyond everybody's expectations," Steinberg said. "The intention was always to build a successful program and then hand over the reigns to the athletic department."

Steinberg will continue to serve as a consultant. He is in the third year of a five-year, $100,000 annual contract. As a consultant, Steinberg said he offers advice on such topics as what type of conference UH should be in, and what kind of financial and operating deals it should get from Aloha Stadium.

Since 2000, Steinberg said he has increased UH's marketing revenue 2› times and has expanded its sponsorship base. Steinberg said UH must renew all but two of its athletic program sponsors for the coming year.

Frazier said the new marketing department will have a staff of four to six and will be overseen by an associate athletic director, who has yet to be hired. Hawai'i currently has two associate athletic directors.

Frazier said he hopes to name the marketing director by July 15. The salary range has not been determined, he said.

Steinberg has three full-time workers and one consultant working at UH, Frazier said. They will be given first opportunity to apply for the new positions, he said. If they are not hired, Steinberg said he will employ them in other positions.