Learfield, Zips Car Wash launch inaugural co-branded NIL campaign

The nation’s leading college sports marketing company is launching its first NIL initiative. Learfield has announced plans to partner with Zips Car Wash in a co-branded, multi-team NIL campaign.

The move also marks Zips’ first foray into college sports. The car wash service, which owns 250 stores in 24 states, has brought on Learfield to manage the execution of its NIL operation with 13 athletic departments.

Zips is starting its sponsorships with six institutions: Arkansas, Baylor, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee. Learfield is the multimedia rights holder at each one of these universities, allowing Zips to have exclusivity. These six schools also are in the main geographic footprint of the express car wash company, too.

Learfield is also setting up individual partnerships with student-athletes for Zips at Arkansas, North Carolina and Tennessee. The players will be featured in interviews while experiencing a Zips’ car wash, which has been dubbed “Car Wash Convos.”

Because Learfield is the the media rights holder for these schools, athletes execute their deals while wearing their school colors and logos.

“Zips is the only company in the car wash industry who is investing at this level in blue chip universities, introducing NIL partnerships in three states and offering gameday tickets to our customers through sweepstakes held in the new ZIPSme portal,” Zips CEO Gene Dinkens said in a press release. “We’re proud to lead the way in collegiate sports sponsorships on a broader scale and to show our support in the communities we serve.”

While Learfield is not an agency, it does have a partnership with Opendorse, allowing athletes to easily be paid and file disclosures. And with a built-in content creation team, Learfield can handle the entire creative process. Add in the on-site Learfield employees at these institutions, and Zips has to do minimal work to make sure its deals are carried out.

How Learfield will get Zips in front of fans

Zips will also be given significant brand exposure thanks to Learfield’s Fan365 digital product. The car wash company will have access to seven other schools: Duke, Wake Forest, Cincinnati, Louisville, Memphis, Oklahoma and TCU. Fan365 is owned and operated by Learfield, tapping into first-party data for more than 150 million college sports fans nationwide.

“Zips is a forward-thinking industry leader, and we are proud to welcome them to the collegiate athletics space,” Learfield’s chief revenue officer John Brody said in the release.

Another component of the multi-year agreement with Learfield enables Zips to offer its unlimited members exclusive access to enter to win college gameday tickets and other prizes.

No terms were disclosed, including the length of the partnership.