Auburn, Playfly Sports Agree to New 10-year Multimedia Rights Partnership

AUBURN — Today, Auburn Athletics and Playfly Sports, the top revenue-maximizing company in the sports sector, signed a 10-year multimedia rights deal that will prolong their fruitful collaboration through the 2034–2035 school year. With a greater emphasis on innovation, improved campus integration, and tailored income generation tactics intended to elevate Auburn Athletics for the upcoming ten years and beyond, the agreement builds on years of progress and partnership.

Here’s the gist.

Auburn’s current Playfly deal averages around $10 million per year. The new deal averages $23 million per year. The contract will top out around $34 million at the end of the contract. The total anticipated value of the partnership is expected to exceed $230M over the 10-year term.

This new deal is a mix of a guarantee and a revenue share. The new deal is a guarantee, but the revenue share kicks in immediately once the guarantee hits.

So, when Auburn football sells advertising on Pat Dye Field for instance, which is likely to happen, the athletics department will benefit financially. In short, in the past, more money would have gone to Playfly. Now, more money will stay with Auburn. This new deal gives Auburn maximum financial upside heading into this new era of revenue sharing starting on July 1.

Additionally, Auburn intentionally didn’t do a 15-year deal, as Texas A&M did. Texas A&M, for instance, is averaging more revenue than Auburn right now in their media rights deal. However, because the new House settlement will be a 10-year term, Auburn didn’t want to extend their media rights beyond the terms of the new settlement. That gives Auburn maximum flexibility. Auburn is attempting to best position themselves to have the most flexibility 10 years from now.

And here’s another unique aspect.

Auburn is launching what they call “Playfly Max.” This is Playfly’s proprietary NIL operation. Playfly adds dedicated staff to the Auburn team to focus on NIL deals. Playfly’s model is hiring staff that then go out and find NIL deals for student-athletes. Auburn is adding a full dedicated staff that will find legitimate NIL deals for their student-athletes.

This is important because the only way to exceed the upcoming revenue share cap is through valid NIL deals. Auburn has built this in a way that they feel significantly enhances their ability to be a major player in the NIL space by creating a dedicated team to find legitimate NIL-cash deals from current or future partners that can go directly to the student-athletes.

The timing of this partnership is very intentional. Auburn has been working on this deal since last August, but wanted to better understand the new model before announcing and finalizing the new deal.

Another note, part of the WarEagle+ content operation will go over to Playfly.

“We are thrilled to expand our longstanding partnership with Playfly Sports through this new agreement,” Auburn Athletics Director John Cohen said. “Christy Hedgpeth and Craig Sloan have a clear vision for how Playfly can generate revenue and enhance Auburn’s position in the new era of college athletics. Thank you to Christy, Craig and their team for their support, partnership, and their commitment to supporting Auburn and our student athletes.”

Auburn feels this deal will position themselves to be the most competitive in the space.

More about the deal via Auburn Athletics

This new partnership model is designed to best support Auburn and Auburn student-athletes in the new world of college athletics by maximizing revenue potential for Auburn while also putting dedicated staff in place to aggressively seek out direct corporate partnerships for Auburn student-athletes, to in turn help them maximize their individual NIL and brand value.

Through this agreement, Playfly will expand its on-campus Sports Properties team to better serve both the university and its corporate sponsors. The bolstered team will focus on building meaningful connections between Auburn’s storied athletics programs and brand partners, all while delivering measurable value to fans, student-athletes, and the broader Auburn community.

Auburn will also leverage the power of Playfly Max, Playfly’s proprietary, fully integrated revenue-generation platform for the new era of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL). Playfly Max will deliver an Auburn-specific strategy that incorporates proprietary technologies, unique revenue concepts, revenue-generating events, alumni and donor engagement programming, recurring membership models, and the marketing of specialized merchandise and memorabilia. These efforts will not only drive incremental revenue but also create direct benefits for Auburn student-athletes—particularly in the evolving NIL era.

“This new 10-year agreement reflects our deep belief in Auburn—its leadership, its brand, and its future,”said Christy Hedgpeth, President of Playfly Sports Properties.“We’re fully aligned with Auburn’s vision to propel athletics into a new era—one rooted in innovation and strategy. With the integration of Playfly Max and a larger on-campus team, we’re unlocking revenue potential and delivering even more value for Auburn’s key stakeholders.”

Additionally, the extended partnership will provide an additional significant investment towards growing Auburn’s digital subscription platform, WarEagle+. This investment will advance the ever-popular platform by expanding membership benefits for subscribers to include access to exclusive events and experiences, while also improving the platform infrastructure, and expanding the digital content and services provided to subscribers.

“We are honored to extend our partnership with Auburn University Athletics and continue building on the incredible momentum we’ve created together,” Auburn Sports Properties General Manager Ben Harling said. “Auburn’s tradition, passionate fan base, and commitment to excellence align perfectly with our mission to connect brands, fans, and communities through innovative and impactful sponsorships. Together, we’ll continue to elevate the Auburn brand while delivering value to fans, corporate partners, and the entire Auburn Family.”

Playfly Sports, which has operated the Auburn Sports Properties team since 2016, currently represents more than 65 collegiate athletic departments across the country. Auburn’s partnership with Playfly has seen tremendous growth across sponsorship, fan engagement, and integrated media, and this new term is expected to accelerate those trends further.