Georgia State Panthers

What Georgia State Panthers does

Georgia State Panthers is the NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletics program of Georgia State University, a public institution founded in 1963 and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, governed by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia. The program fields 16 varsity sports — six men's teams and ten women's teams — and competes in the Sun Belt Conference, having joined in 2013 after transitioning to full FBS status in football by 2014. Football launched in 2010 and beach volleyball in 2012; women's sports have been integrated since the 1974-75 academic year. Notable competitive markers include four NCAA men's basketball tournament appearances in eight years, a top-six NCAA finish in beach volleyball in 2025, and a program-best No. 88 LEARFIELD Division I Director's Cup ranking in 2022.

The department operates a centralized digital platform on SIDEARM Sports, anchored at georgiastatesports.com, layered with a subscription-based Panthers All-Access streaming product, a dedicated iOS/Android mobile application, and the Georgia State Radio Network (WRAS-FM 88.5 plus regional affiliates across Gainesville, Columbus, Savannah and Dublin). Live game distribution is split between ESPN+ and the All-Access streaming service, supported by ticketing through Ticketmaster. Academic and student-athlete development is delivered through the Panther Academic Support and Student-Athlete Development (P.A.S.S.) office, with sub-programs branded Panther Fit, Panther Hunt, Panther Service, Panther Talk and Panther Watch.

Revenue mechanics are diversified across five streams: single-game and season ticket sales (with luxury suites, club seats and group packages), recurring annual donations through the Panther Athletic Club (PAC), corporate sponsorships and naming rights (most prominently the 15-year, $21 million Center Parc Credit Union Stadium deal monetized through Van Wagner Sports & Entertainment), media rights and streaming carriage (ESPN+, SIDEARM subscriptions, radio network distribution), and planned giving/endowments via the Legacy Circle program. The department sits within a $300 million, multi-phase buildout of the 68-acre former Turner Field site — including Center Parc Credit Union Stadium (opened in phases 2017/2019), the Convocation Center (2022), the GSU Soccer Complex (2021) and the Bobby Jones Golf Practice Facility (2019), with planned baseball and softball facilities still pending within the Summerhill footprint.

Name

Georgia State Panthers

Legal name

Georgia State University

Website

https://georgiastatesports.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1963

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Georgia State Panthers is the NCAA Division I, Sun Belt Conference athletics program of Georgia State University in Atlanta, fielding 16 varsity sports and monetizing ticket sales, PAC donations, corporate sponsorships, media rights and planned giving across a $300 million Atlanta campus.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Collegiate Athletics

NAICS

Sports Teams and Clubs (711211), Spectator Sports (71121), Other Spectator Sports (711219)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

College/University Athletic Departments & Varsity Programs (MPAKACAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Intercollegiate Athletics (Varsity Sports Programs) (EDALAIAA), College/University Sports Events (NCAA & equivalents) (MPAGAMAE), College & University Sports Networks (Conference/School-Owned) (MPABAJAD)

Keywords

• Collegiate athletics programs
• NCAA Division I sports
• Athletic event ticketing
• College sports broadcasting
• Student-athlete development

Headquarters

HQ city

Atlanta

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices7 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Ticket Sales: Revenue from single-game and season tickets for football, basketball, and other sports events. Premium seating options include luxury suites and club seats.
2. Panther Athletic Club (PAC) Donations: Annual donations from PAC members providing scholarship, facility enhancement, and programmatic support. Members receive benefits including priority seating, parking, and exclusive events.
3. Corporate Sponsorships: Marketing partnerships with corporate sponsors including Van Wagner Sports & Entertainment for corporate marketing and sponsorship programs. Includes naming rights (Center Parc Credit Union Stadium - $21M, 15-year agreement).
4. Media Rights and Streaming: ESPN+ broadcasts for home games, radio network carriage fees, and Panthers All-Access subscription revenue.
5. Planned Giving and Endowments: Legacy Circle planned giving program including bequests, retirement plan assets, life insurance, charitable gift annuities, and charitable remainder trusts.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Georgia State Panthers operates as the NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletics program of Georgia State University, fielding 16 varsity sports teams that compete in the Sun Belt Conference. The program sells live event attendance through ticketing, distributes media content via streaming and radio broadcasts, operates youth sports camps, and runs the Panther Athletic Club fundraising arm that supports scholarships and facilities. It also delivers academic support, career development, and community engagement programs for its student-athletes.

Product overview

Georgia State Panthers operates as a Division I athletics program competing in the Sun Belt Conference with 16 varsity sports. The digital product portfolio centers on the georgiastatesports.com platform—a unified web presence that serves as the hub for all athletics content, schedules, ticketing, and streaming. Supporting this core platform are specialized sub-products: Panthers All-Access for premium video streaming, the Georgia State Panthers Mobile App for on-the-go access, the Georgia State Radio Network for broadcast coverage, the P.A.S.S. academic support system for student-athlete development, Youth Sports Camps for community outreach, and the GSU Bookstore for merchandise. These products work together to serve prospective students, current student-athletes, alumni, donors, and fans across all Georgia State athletics programs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Panther Athletic Club (PAC): The primary fundraising arm of Georgia State Athletics providing scholarship, facility enhancement and programmatic support through annual donations.
• Panther Academic Support and Student-Athlete Development (P.A.S.S.)
• Panther Fit
• Panther Hunt
• Panther Service
• Panther Talk
• Panther Watch

Products and services

• Georgia State Panthers Intercollegiate Athletics Program

Quantifiable outcome

• 38 consecutive semesters with average GPA of 3.0 or better
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers2 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

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Van Wagner Sports & EntertainmentcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerVan Wagner's Collegiate Services division serves as the exclusive sales representative for corporate marketing and sponsorship programs for GSU athletics, managing corporate partnerships and marketing opportunities across campus.
• Center Parc Credit UnioncoreOthers$21 million, 15-year naming rights agreement for Center Parc Credit Union Stadium, the university's football stadium.
• WRAS-FM 88.5coreGTM or Marketing Partner50,000 watt flagship radio station in Atlanta carrying all football games and select men's basketball games.
• ESPN+coreGTM or Marketing PartnerStreaming platform broadcasting home games for basketball and select sports.
• Georgia State Radio Network AffiliatesminorGTM or Marketing PartnerRegional affiliates including WGTJ-FM 97.5 Gainesville, WIOL-FM 95.7 Columbus, LowCountryRadio.com Savannah, and WRBJradio Dublin.
• TicketmastercoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPrimary ticketing platform for single-game and season ticket sales through Ticketmaster.
• Panther Athletic Club (PAC)coreGTM or Marketing PartnerPrimary fundraising arm of GSU Athletics providing annual donations for scholarships, facilities, and programs.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Others

• Van Wagner Sports & Entertainment: Exclusive corporate-sales partner for GSU Athletics and a leading collegiate sports marketing agency representing peer institutions. Relevant ecosystem counterpart rather than direct peer; reflects the GTM motion GSU uses to monetize sponsorships.
• Learfield (IMG College / LEARFIELD): College athletics multimedia-rights holder that publishes the LEARFIELD Director's Cup (in which GSU achieved No. 88 in 2022) and is a meaningful ecosystem player across all peer institutions; relevant for benchmarking and rights-partnership economics.

Direct peers

• Appalachian State Mountaineers: Sun Belt Conference peer and previous employer of GSU Director of Athletics Charlie Cobb (9 years as AD). Operates a similar mid-major Division I athletics footprint with comparable football prominence and Sun Belt media economics.
• South Alabama Jaguars: Sun Belt Conference peer with similar sport count, comparable FBS-era maturity, and parallel urban-university positioning in a mid-sized Southeast metro.
• Coastal Carolina Chanticleers: Sun Belt Conference peer operating a 16+ sport Division I athletics program with similar revenue mix (tickets, donations, sponsorships, media rights) and comparable on-field ambitions as a relatively newer FBS member.
• Troy Trojans: Sun Belt Conference peer with comparable NCAA Division I athletics scope and similar competitive positioning within the conference across football, basketball, and Olympic sports.
• Georgia Southern Eagles: Sun Belt Conference peer in Georgia with a similar 16+ sport NCAA Division I athletics program, competing for the same regional fan base, donor pool, and in-state recruiting talent. Most directly comparable in scale, market, and conference affiliation.

Broad incumbents

• UCF Knights: Large public metropolitan university with a similar "urban commuter school that scaled into Division I" trajectory, now in a Power conference (Big 12). Useful analog for the upside case of GSU continuing to grow Sun Belt visibility and brand into Power-tier outcomes.

Regional players

• Kennesaw State Owls: Metro Atlanta peer university transitioning into Division I athletics; competes directly with GSU for local students, alumni, sponsors, and Atlanta-area fan share at a smaller current scale.
• Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets: Atlanta-based NCAA Division I program and a direct in-market competitor for local fan attention, corporate sponsorships, and high-school recruits, but competes at a substantially higher tier (ACC / Power Four). Useful for benchmarking Atlanta sponsorship market potential.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/GSUPanthers
• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/GSUAthletics
• Facebookfacebook.com/GeorgiaStateAthletics
• Instagraminstagram.com/gsu_football
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/georgia-state-university-athletic-association-inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 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 Georgia State Panthers