Collegiate Sports Management Group

What Collegiate Sports Management Group does

Collegiate Sports Management Group (CSMG) is an integrated sports, entertainment, and media company that operates at the intersection of collegiate athletics, media rights, sponsorship sales, and scholastic esports. The company serves three primary customer verticals: NCAA and collegiate athletic conferences and universities (Summit League, CAA, Horizon League, SIAC, Arizona, Stony Brook), consumer brands and sponsors (Newman's Own, Cisco, McDonald's, Red Bull), and video game publishers seeking to build collegiate ecosystems around their titles. CSMG negotiates television, streaming, and audio media rights agreements, develops and curates sponsorship deals with data-driven valuation, and operates the EsportsU scholastic platform (3,000+ academic institutions) and the CECC May Madness collegiate esports championship (300+ college teams, 91 qualifying entries in 2026, 2,000+ student competitors).

The company's core technology stack centers on its Business Intelligence team, which applies proprietary valuation methodologies (impression-based, CPM, exposure metrics) to sponsorship and media rights assets, and its Optimatch platform, which uses predictive modeling—regression, classification, forecasting, and machine learning—to forecast attendance and viewership and to generate logistics-based scheduling recommendations for sports properties. CSMG also operates a Production Studio that has produced 1,000+ hours of content across traditional sports and esports properties. Sub-brands include EsportsU (scholastic platform), CECC (tournament series), ACE (Accelerating College Esports campus financing program), and Optimatch.

CSMG earns revenue through professional services retainers and transaction-based fees on media rights advisory and sponsorship sales, project-based strategic consulting fees (e.g., jersey patch valuations for Division I programs), and event production revenue from CECC May Madness via sponsorship activations, brand partnerships, and licensing. The go-to-market is direct enterprise field sales targeting conference commissioners, athletic directors, and brand marketing executives, supplemented by event-driven demand generation (CECC May Madness attracts 4M+ views and 4,100+ in-person attendees). CSMG has begun extending its model internationally via a licensing partnership for CECC India (announced October 2025) and broadened its commercial scope through a May 2026 strategic alliance with Excelsior Sports & Entertainment.

Name

Collegiate Sports Management Group

Legal name

Collegiate Sports Management Group, Inc.

Website

https://collegiatesmg.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Collegiate Sports Management Group is an integrated sports, entertainment, and media company that negotiates media rights, sells sponsorships, and runs the EsportsU and CECC May Madness collegiate esports ecosystem for NCAA conferences, universities, brands, and video game publishers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Sports Media Rights & Sponsorship Advisory

NAICS

Promoters of Performing Arts, Sports, and Similar Events with Facilities (71131), Promoters of Performing Arts, Sports, and Similar Events (7113), Other Spectator Sports (711219)

SIC

Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990), Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Collegiate/Scholastic Esports Programs & Leagues (MPAFADAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Collegiate & Scholastic Esports Tournaments (MPAGANAE), Collegiate Esports Leagues & Tournaments (MPAKANAG), Collegiate Athletic Conferences & Associations (MPAKACAA), Esports & Competitive Gaming Programs (EDALAIAO), College & University Sports Networks (Conference/School-Owned) (MPABAJAD)

Keywords

• Media rights representation
• Sports sponsorship sales
• Collegiate esports management
• Sports business intelligence
• Athletic conference consulting

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Media Rights Representation & Advisory: CSMG earns fees for negotiating and structuring media rights agreements on behalf of collegiate athletic conferences and universities, including television, streaming, and audio rights deals. The company assisted the Summit League in securing a four-year extension with CBS Sports and Midco Sports covering the 2029-30 academic year. Revenue is generated through professional services fees or retainers tied to deal negotiation and analysis.
2. Sponsorship Sales & Valuation Services: CSMG develops, curates, and negotiates sponsorship agreements for traditional sports and esports/gaming properties and brands. Services include sponsorship asset valuation (jersey patches, helmet stickers, naming rights, digital assets), packaging of commercial opportunities, and connecting brands with sports properties. Revenue derives from commission or success fees on completed sponsorship transactions.
3. Event Production & Management: CSMG produces and manages large-scale collegiate esports events including the CECC May Madness championship, which hosts 300+ college esports teams across multiple game titles. Event revenue is generated through sponsorship activations, brand partnerships, ticket sales, and media rights associated with live championship coverage.
4. Strategic Advisory & Consulting: CSMG provides strategic advisory services to sports properties, brands, and organizations across media, analytics, sponsorship, and commercial development. Engagements include independent data-driven valuations of emerging sponsorship assets (e.g., jersey patch opportunities) for Division I athletic programs ranging from Power 4 schools to mid-majors. Revenue is earned through project-based consulting fees.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Collegiate Sports Management Group (CSMG) is an integrated sports, entertainment, and media company that negotiates and structures media rights agreements, develops and sells sponsorships, and provides data-driven business intelligence and analytics for collegiate athletic conferences, universities, brands, and video game publishers. The firm also operates the largest collegiate esports ecosystem in North America through its EsportsU scholastic platform and the CECC May Madness national championship, complemented by content and event production services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• EsportsU: Scholastic esports platform partnering with 3,000+ academic institutions from high school through four-year colleges to support recruitment, student life, and career opportunities in esports.
• CECC
• ACE
• Optimatch

Products and services

• Sponsorship Sales Develops, curates, and negotiates sponsorships for traditional sports and esports/gaming properties. Services include sponsorship asset valuation (jersey patches, helmet stickers, naming rights, digital assets), packaging of commercial opportunities, and connecting brands with collegiate sports properties and tournaments.
• Media Rights Negotiates comprehensive television, streaming, and audio media rights agreements tailored to the unique needs of collegiate athletic conferences and university partners, including analysis of the evolving digital platform and broadcasting technology landscape.
• Business Intelligence Analytics services offering insights into the true worth and marketplace value of a property's assets, including sponsorship valuation, viewership analytics, impression-based and CPM valuation, and predictive modeling that empower partners to make data-driven decisions.
• Production Studio Original content and event production services for sports and esports properties, supporting live broadcasts, branded content, and tournament coverage including the CECC May Madness championship.
• ACE - Accelerating College Esports Program to build sustainable college esports programs and facilities on campuses, empowering academic institutions with flexible financing, infrastructure, and operational support to launch and run gaming programs.
• EsportsU Scholastic esports program in partnership with more than 3,000 academic institutions (high school through four-year colleges), supporting recruitment, student life, and career opportunities in collegiate gaming through structured leagues, conferences, and events.
• CECC (Collegiate Esports Commissioners Cup) Flagship tournament series (also known as May Madness) hosting over 300 college esports teams in North America crowning scholastic champions across multiple game titles annually.
• Optimatch Data-driven scheduling and predictive analytics platform that forecasts attendance and viewership and generates optimized, logistics-based scheduling recommendations for collegiate sports properties using regression, classification, forecasting, and machine learning models with a client-facing user interface.

Quantifiable outcome

• CSMG has negotiated and executed hundreds of millions of dollars in sponsorship and commercial agreements on behalf of its properties and partners.
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability3 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

18 partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.

• The Summit LeaguecoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 15 June 2026CSMG assisted the Summit League during the media rights analysis and negotiation process that resulted in four-year extensions with CBS Sports and Midco Sports covering the 2029-30 academic year. The expanded agreements increase the number of games broadcast nationally on CBS Sports Network from a minimum of 7 to 9 regular season games, guarantee two women's basketball regular season contests, and include championship title games. CSMG also supports digital enhancements to the Summit League Network.
• Excelsior Sports & EntertainmentcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 21 May 2026CSMG and Excelsior Sports & Entertainment announced a strategic partnership in May 2026 to expand commercial opportunities across collegiate, professional, national governing bodies, and entertainment properties. The partnership focuses on identifying, developing, and securing commercial opportunities aligned with CSMG's business objectives, including Media and Business Intelligence initiatives, and evaluating, packaging, and selling sponsorship opportunities such as jersey patches, helmet stickers, naming rights, and emerging commercial assets. The principals at both companies have negotiated and executed hundreds of millions of dollars in sponsorship and commercial agreements.
• Asymmetrical Learning (Acceler Edtech Private Limited)flagshipOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing Partner · 17 October 2025CSMG announced its first-ever international licensing partnership with Asymmetrical Learning (led by Siddharth Rahalkar) to bring CECC May Madness and its scholastic esports ecosystem to India. Asymmetrical Learning will develop scholastic gaming infrastructure and competitive programming modeled on the successful CECC May Madness tournament, with CSMG providing licensing, event services, broadcast, marketing, and tournament operations support. The inaugural CECC India event series is slated to launch in Spring 2026.
• ASUSminorGTM or Marketing PartnerASUS is a partner for the 2026 CECC May Madness championship event, providing technology and hardware support for the esports tournament.
• CiscocoreGTM or Marketing PartnerCisco is a partner for CECC May Madness, having launched a first-of-its-kind Pit Crew Certification Program with CSMG as part of the CECC May Madness Corporate Champion Partnership. Cisco provides technology infrastructure and professional certification programming for collegiate esports participants.
• PlayVSminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPlayVS is a partner for CECC May Madness and hosts the PlayVS College League Spring Championship on-site during the event.
• Legends GlobalminorGTM or Marketing PartnerLegends Global is a partner for the 2026 CECC May Madness championship event.
• Baylor UniversityminorGTM or Marketing PartnerBaylor University is a partner for the 2026 CECC May Madness, hosting the Thursday Night Lights opening ceremony at McLane Stadium and serving as the local host venue in Waco, Texas.
• eBliss GlobalminorGTM or Marketing PartnereBliss Global partnered with CSMG and Gamerplug to become the Official Mobility Partner of the 2026 CECC May Madness. eBliss Global provides premium e-bikes (The Ride brand) as marquee grand prizes for championship winners, connecting performance, lifestyle, and mobility with the collegiate gaming community.
• GamerplugminorGTM or Marketing PartnerGamerplug partnered with CSMG to connect collegiate gamers and fans at the 2026 CECC May Madness. Gamerplug helps players connect digitally through its platform and extends that connection into the real world by building authentic relationships across gaming communities.
• Init EsportsminorGTM or Marketing PartnerInit Esports partnered with CSMG to become the Official Sim Racing Partner of the CECC, expanding the championship's competitive offerings.
• Arizona Athletics and Arizona Sports EnterprisescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCSMG partnered with Arizona Athletics and Arizona Sports Enterprises to conduct jersey patch valuation services for the University of Arizona athletic programs, helping the school better understand the exposure, reach, and overall commercial value of jersey patch sponsorship opportunities across live events, broadcast, digital, and social platforms.
• Playfly SportsminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPlayfly Sports partnered with CSMG to add the College Esports Tournament of Champions to the CECC May Madness weekend, expanding the championship programming.
• Newman's OwnminorGTM or Marketing PartnerNewman's Own became associate sponsor of the 2024 CAA Women's Basketball Championship through a partnership brokered by CSMG between Newman's Own, the CAA, and Monmouth University. The partnership included on-site branding, social media graphics, TV visible signage, and tournament promotions on FloSports.
• McDonald'sminorGTM or Marketing PartnerMcDonald's served as presenting sponsor of the CECC Texas event, with activation including promotions through the McDonald's App, sending an HBCU team to CECC, and custom McDonald's branded jerseys.
• Prodigy SearchminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerProdigy Search and CSMG announced a strategic partnership in January 2025 to enhance services and optimize sports organizations.
• FastlaneminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCSMG and Fastlane partnered to add strategic value to revenue-generating collegiate services, combining Fastlane's capabilities with CSMG's existing service offerings.
• BAS EminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBASE and CSMG announced a strategic alignment in June 2024 to expand and enhance revenue-generating services for collegiate sports properties.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• PlayVS: PlayVS operates the leading scholastic and collegiate esports league platform in the U.S., partnering with the NFHS Network and publishers to run structured high school and college competition. Directly comparable as a scholastic esports infrastructure and tournament operator, with a partnership overlap through PlayVS College League events at CECC May Madness.
• NACE (National Association of Collegiate Esports): NACE is a non-profit organization that organizes and governs collegiate esports competition across U.S. colleges and universities, running leagues, championships, and scholastic programming. Directly comparable as a parallel collegiate esports league and tournament operator competing for the same institutional and publisher partnerships.
• Playfly Sports: Playfly Sports is a collegiate-focused sports marketing and media rights company that represents athletic departments and conferences for sponsorship sales, multimedia rights, and esports program development (including the College Esports Tournament of Champions with CSMG). Directly comparable in target customer (collegiate properties) and core service lines (sponsorship, media rights, esports).
• Playfly Sports Properties: Playfly Sports Properties (the multimedia rights arm of Playfly) negotiates and sells media rights and sponsorships for individual universities and conferences. Directly comparable in the same media rights representation and sponsorship sales business targeting mid-major athletic programs.

Emerging players

• FloSports: FloSports is a streaming platform that has signed media rights deals with multiple mid-major conferences (including CAA via CSMG-brokered agreements). Comparable as a digital distribution partner and emerging rights buyer whose deal flow is partly facilitated by CSMG's advisory work, representing both a partner and a competitive risk if FloSports internalizes rights acquisitions.

Broad incumbents

• Learfield (Learfield IMG College): Learfield is the dominant multimedia rights holder for U.S. collegiate athletics, representing hundreds of university athletic departments for sponsorship, media rights, and digital fan engagement. Comparable as a large-scale collegiate sports media rights and sponsorship sales incumbent against which CSMG competes for mid-major conference mandates.
• Endeavor / Octagon: Octagon, part of Endeavor Group, is a global sports marketing agency representing athletes, brands, and properties for sponsorships, media rights, and event consulting. Comparable as a broad incumbent in sports sponsorship sales and media rights advisory that competes for the same brand and property mandates as CSMG's advisory business.
• Main Street Sports Group (formerly Silver Chalice): Main Street Sports Group operates Big Ten Network-adjacent digital media assets and represents university athletic departments for media rights and sponsorship sales. Comparable as a collegiate-focused media rights and digital content operator with overlapping conference clients.
• CAA (Creative Artists Agency) — Sports Division: CAA's sports division represents athletes, leagues, and brands across media rights, sponsorships, and marketing advisory. Comparable as a broad incumbent sports advisory that could pitch the same collegiate and brand clients as CSMG, and which CSMG has already worked alongside (CAA collegiate conference partnerships).

Others

• Learfield Directors' Cup / Collegiate Sports Analytics: Collegiate sports analytics and data products serving athletic departments, conferences, and broadcasters. Adjacent to CSMG's Business Intelligence and Optimatch practices; relevant as the data/analytics tier of the collegiate sports ecosystem where Optimatch could either partner or compete.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/collegiatesmg
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/collegiate-sports-management-group

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Collegiate Sports Management Group