No doubt, the way that BYU does things is different from most universities.
“BYU Athletics has to operate in the black,” said BYU athletics associate athletic director of finance and scheduling Dallan Moody.
Installing cushy seats in LaVell Edwards Stadium or some LED signage at the Marriott Center can’t begin until they’ve been fully paid for, he explained. And the funding is self generated. But where do these millions of dollars come from?
This is where the BYU Corporate Sponsorship team comes in.
This team, also known as CST, is in charge of finding sponsors, maintaining relations, and fulfilling their contracts to generate revenue for BYU Athletics.
The CST will put on events like golf tournaments for players, basketball tournaments for partners, and even host CEOs of the sponsors and the apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for meals.
That’s some of the more noticeable work. But there’s much more that goes into it behind the scenes.
“ There's two sides, right? There's the meeting of apostles in the annex side, and then there's spending a full summer day changing bathroom signage at LaVell Edwards Stadium,” CST intern Ethan Johnson said.
The replacement of bathroom signage featuring Quick Quack and Brady Industries is just one example of the many sponsor ads the CST is responsible for managing across all BYU-owned stadiums and arenas.
BYU associate athletic director over sponsorships, Casey Stauffer, says it is actually quite unique that BYU has its own team.
Many colleges fall under one of two third-party companies in the college sponsorship landscape: Learfield or Playfly.
According to Learfield.com, the company has secured “nearly 200 Division I athletic programs and conferences,” and Playfly.com states that it has inked deals with over 65 athletic departments, including teams like Texas A&M and University of Nebraska.
With the NCAA reporting just over 350 D-1 athletic programs in existence, those two companies end up controlling sponsorships for over half of those.
These usually are a great revenue for schools that simplify the process of sponsorship work, but BYU has unique requirements for who is even able to sponsor with them, according to Stauffer.
Early in his career at BYU before being an associate athletic director, Stauffer was walking through Legacy Hall on BYU’s campus, when a man in a Budweiser uniform motioned over to him.
“Hey, do you work here?” the man said.
Stauffer responded that he did.
The man explained that he’d never been to Provo, was just driving through, recognized BYU, and thought he’d stop by. As he took a walk around LaVell Edwards Stadium, something caught his eye.
“I'm walking around looking at all this stuff and this is amazing but I stopped by your stadium and I noticed there's no beer partner,” he said.
This caught Stauffer off guard.
“I honestly thought he was joking,” Stauffer said. “I truly thought like there's no way … So I'm just laughing. I'm like, ‘Oh, yeah, you know, we tried, but they just couldn't afford it.’”
Turns out the man was sincere in his question, asking if Stauffer was sure, because he was “positive” that there was “plenty of money” to sponsor such a huge stadium.
“And then I realized he wasn't joking,” Stauffer said. “And I was like, ‘Well, let me explain why.’”
So Stauffer got to have a “missionary moment” with him explaining that Latter-day Saints — and by extension pretty much anybody at BYU — don't drink alcohol, so a beer sponsorship wouldn’t work out for the two sides.
Suffice it to say, BYU is different. Along with alcohol the Honor Code doesn’t allow for coffee, tea, premarital sex, smoking and drugs. So anything that promotes those things is a non-starter, according to Stauffer.
Even companies that BYU has worked with can forget that sometimes. For instance, one time an employee working for ISP (the company that used to manage BYU Athletics sponsorships and was one of two major players in college sports multimedia rights at the time) excitedly called Stauffer to tell him they sold a contract with Keurig Coffee.
“ I remember the national team calling and saying, ‘Hey, we sold this deal to Keurig Coffee, and we're gonna promote it at BYU Games,’” Stauffer said. “I said, ‘Oh, you can't do that.’ And they said, ‘Well, no, we already sold it, so you have to do it.’ I'm like, ‘no, you can't do that. It will not happen here …’ So in that vein I had to represent BYU, but also work for ISP.”
The uniqueness of BYU even led the CST having to end a partnership with a longtime local chain restaurant partner due to some risque TV advertising that the national organization was choosing to adopt.
Due to these unique circumstances, BYU chose a route few have gone — taking its sponsorship team in-house.
TAKING IT HOME
In 2006, BYU Athletics partnered with ISP to outsource their sponsorships and marketing.
These companies purchased rights to sell on-court promotions and signage, providing schools with a guaranteed revenue stream while taking on the responsibility of hiring and paying staff.
Stauffer was brought on to help out and the partnership worked great, giving BYU three full time people working just on sponsorships.
Before, sponsors usually came to BYU on their own by reaching out first. But the partnership with ISP introduced a more proactive approach, where BYU actively sought out sponsors.
“It was a huge difference,” Stauffer said. “You double your workforce and you take an organic approach and make it a progressive, proactive approach ... And if my memory serves me, I think from that first year we grew $2 million in the first year, and then in the second year we grew another $1.5 million. And so people are going, ‘Oh wait, like, this is more money than BYU had ever seen.’”
BYU worked well with ISP for a few years and as such developed a lot of trust with the president of the organization, Ben Sutton. Stauffer said that he was “a dear friend” who was honest and would follow through on everything he said he’d do.
The difficulty came when Sutton one day decided to sell his company. None of his children wanted to take it over, so a bigger company called WME took over.
For BYU, this lessened the amount of direct control over sponsorships and conflicted with BYU’s desire to maintain meaningful, long-term relationships rather than aggressively extracting maximum profits from community partners, due to the pressure to continuously grow revenue.
“ When he sold, it wasn't like that direct relationship with Ben anymore. You became a part of a massive machine,” Stauffer said.
Additionally, BYU felt it had less control over who it partnered with.
“It's always been important to BYU to be able to have a lot of input and influence on the partnerships that we have,” Moody said.
The team wanted to avoid taxing their sponsors in what felt like “unnecessary ways.”
“We got to go to church with these people and we don't want them to feel like every year we're just trying to get every single penny they have out of them. We want relationships with them,” Stauffer said.
And those high demands from a third-party company such as WME were pushing Stauffer and other BYU employees away from doing business the way they felt they should. The team wanted to make sure that the understanding of who they represent as university remained intact.
“Doing well financially should never come at the cost of what we stand for,” Stauffer said.
“And sometimes that would be challenging with a third party where you're mostly aligned but sometimes you see things a little bit differently," Moody said. "And so they had a change of ownership and that gave us the ability in our contract that we put it in there … that said we could then bring it in-house if we wanted to end our contract with them."
So BYU had a big meeting with athletic director Tom Holmoe, former BYU President Kevin Worthen, and other BYU athletics leaders to discuss making a switch. By the end it was determined that going in-house was worth it.
And BYU’s CST was born.
These changes have given BYU unparalleled control over what kind of sponsors it has while also being able to establish a relationship-driven approach for sponsors.
RELATIONAL SUCCESS
In the past when there were some economic downturns, Stauffer explained that the expectation would be that if staff members didn’t hit their numbers they'd get fired. Many businesses run that way effectively. But it put a lot of stress on “creating transactional sponsorships rather than relational sponsorships,” Stauffer said.
This could incentivize those selling the contracts to sell whatever they could to hit them number. But was that really the best long term for BYU? The university didn’t think so.
So BYU developed a strategy once they came in-house to enhance the experience and relationships built with their corporate partners, focusing on long-term building and growing over time, as opposed to short-term gains.
Rather than simply closing deals, the team prioritizes making sponsors feel like part of the BYU family through personal touches and memorable experiences.
“We really do try to make these sponsors a part of our lives,” Stauffer said. “We know who they are, we know their spouse, we know their birthdays, we know their anniversaries, we know their kids' birthdays — and that means something. We want to make sure they know that we care about them and we’re grateful for them.”
One of the most notable initiatives is the Champions Club, which includes BYU’s top 12 corporate partners, collectively committing $12 million annually for at least 10 years. These people get access to their own hospitality area called Champions Terrace, a hospitality area located on the elevated platform linking the north and east stands of the stadium.
The club’s approach goes beyond financial.
“They understand they’re part of the family and are helping make all of that happen,” Stauffer said.
To strengthen these bonds, BYU regularly hosts unique experiences for sponsors, including golf tournaments, flag football games coached by BYU athletes, a 3-on-3 basketball tournament featuring Ryan Smith, owner of the Utah Jazz (his team most recently won) and even behind-the-scenes trips to away games.
Stauffer took a big group of sponsors out to most recent away BYU football games against teams like Arkansas and Tennessee, both of which were huge wins for the program in SEC territory.
“You go from high to low to high and then you're flying home on the plane afterward with all these guys, and those are experiences that last a lifetime. It's stuff that people are going to tell their kids about,” Stauffer said.
One memorable moment involved organizing a surprise homecoming for a military dad, with multiple partners contributing to make the event possible.
And even something as simple as someone’s birthday is worth making special for the CST.
“It was one guy's birthday and his wife had called me and said, ‘Hey, I want to do something special. Do you think we can?’ I'm like, ‘I got you,’” Stauffer said.
Little did the husband know that the CST arranged for him to run the flag out for the football team. They got the husband down on the field and then told him what was going to happen. He was elated.
“Are you serious?” he said.
“Just don’t fall over,” Stauffer said.
The fulfillment team for the BYU CST is the “secret sauce” that facilitates many of these experiences. Their job is to make sure that what is contractually obligated is done but then go beyond.
“It's building these memories. It's building these experiences,” Stauffer said. “The money's important, but when people buy in and understand what BYU means and represents, it's so much easier to talk about, ‘What do you want to do?’ or ‘How can we help you? You know how you can help us is by giving us money, right?' But how do we negotiate so that when you walk away at the end of the day you go, ‘My experience with BYU is second to none.’”
This buy-in has helped BYU to reach sponsorship revenue rivaling that of college powerhouses like Oklahoma and Texas, along with helping BYU Athletics financially in times of need.
One of these times came in 2020, when COVID hit and few fans were allowed in the stands.
“For us, our major revenue streams are donations, ticket sales, Big 12 media rights and sponsorships,” Moody said. “And so, if any of those doesn't fire on all cylinders, then, yeah, that puts a serious dent in our ability to fund the sports and the initiatives that we're trying to do to compete at the highest level against our peer schools.”
Without many fans in the stands, sponsors were not getting as much exposure in LaVell Edwards Stadium as they might have expected. This, along with a lot of businesses closing down, might have caused issues on the ever-important sponsorship revenue.
But many sponsors came through in this time of need for BYU Athletics. The CST had helped them through their own financial struggles in the past, so they were willing to reciprocate.
“It's a good give and take sometimes to say, ‘Hey, we get it. You've been with us for X number of years. We'll work through that with you and we'll adjust as needed.’ So that's why I just think it's kudos to them for being great partners for us. And likewise, we'd like to think we're good partners for them,” Moody said.
The focus on relationships has also strengthened the team bond.
“I love the team,” CST intern Ellie Johnson (sister of Ethan Johnson) said. “This is such a special group of people who love each other, and they love what they do. That just brings a lot of passion into the job. We're all friends outside of work as well.”
Ethan Johnson said the team is made up of “diehard fans,” often seen chatting about game results or team stats when they’re not directly working on sponsorships. Among the interns, a group chat lights up during away games as everyone follows the action.
They’ve faced their fair share of challenges, too — like when rain and lightning delayed a promotion involving tickets taped under a seat at a BYU soccer game.
Another time, the CST golf cart broke down midway between the Student Athlete Building and the stadium.
“We just had to push it all the way back to the SAB. And that could be such a bad experience, but because we're just so close it was just so much fun,” Ethan Johnson said.
And when real tragedy strikes the CST has each other’s backs. One instance was when one of Moody’s sons with special needs passed away and his co-workers from BYU Athletics showed up to support at the funeral.
"It's just special when you have that relationship with the co-workers that you have, where they're just there for you,” Moody said. “They kindly put together a little package and sent us — my family — all to Disneyland. Just on their own. It was a sweet thing for our family to do in the months afterwards … I can never forget people like that. It's awesome."
Why This Way?
The relationship-driven approach has brought many benefits to the success of BYU Corporate Sponsorships. At its core, BYU does things this way — and earns some of its most loyal sponsors — because of the church it represents.
Ellie Johnson explained that BYU CST has “buy-in to the mission” of the university. And that mission aligns with the mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“When you think of BYU as an athletic organization, it may not have the same name value as Ohio State or Kentucky basketball,” Ethan Johnson said. “And yet, you see BYU being able to compete not only on the field but financially with these partnerships. I think that’s just because we stick to those values that we learn as Christians and as followers of Jesus Christ. There’s no cutting corners. You just do things right, and then you trust that results will follow.”
“Being a part of BYU just gives athletics a big megaphone to amplify the church,” Moody said.
Working in BYU Corporate Sponsorships has given Stauffer plenty of unique opportunities to share his faith.
At a sponsorship dinner with representatives from about 30 other universities, the president of the organization — knowing Stauffer was religious — asked him to offer a prayer before the meal.
Stauffer prayed in the traditional Latter-day Saint manner, recognizing Jesus Christ. Afterward, a few attendees questioned why he had prayed that way.
It opened up a conversation around the table.
“Look, I was asked to pray, so I’m going to pray how I pray. If you were asked to pray, you’re going to pray how you pray. Why is that an issue?” Stauffer said. “And so we had this huge conversation — 30 universities sitting around a table — having a religious conversation about prayer and about Christ. It was amazing.”
Another experience was more personal — one he shared with a friend from Baylor University.
“I was out on a road trip and have a dear friend who was at Baylor,” Stauffer said. “We were roommates at this conference. And so he comes in, and he is an absolutely amazing person — devout Baptist — and we’re staying at a Marriott. And he’s like, ‘Hey, you mind if I ask you some questions?’”
Stauffer told him to go for it.
“‘Tell me about your church,’” his friend said. “‘I met a few Mormons. And a lot of other people are pretty hard on members of your faith ... I know that’s not my experience. So, tell me a little bit about your faith and your religion. And tell me about Joseph Smith.’”
“OK, well, do you mind if I grab a book real quick?” Stauffer said.
“Sure,” his friend said.
To his friend’s surprise, Stauffer pulled a copy of The Book of Mormon from the desk. He explained that Marriott is owned by Latter-day Saints and nearly all their rooms have copies of the Book of Mormon.
“Blew him away. Absolutely just blew him away,” Stauffer said. “So, we had this conversation and we talked about Jesus, and we talked about who Jesus is. And he’s like, ‘I believe that. I think we believe in the same Jesus.’”
The conversation allowed the two to find common ground in their different religious backgrounds while growing their shared understanding of Jesus Christ.
Opportunities to share the gospel are a unique part of working in sponsorships at BYU — and they’re a powerful motivator to do the work well.
“These moments are so fulfilling to me. I want BYU to be the best. I want to win every national championship, because I want my school to be what everybody else looks up to,” Stauffer said.
Stauffer acknowledges that that may be seen as a “selfish” thought. But he wants BYU to find success for a more personal reason.
“In the broad spectrum of things, in an eternal perspective, sports don’t matter that much,” Stauffer said. “But it is such a huge avenue for people to learn about not only our school, but our faith — and that’s what matters the most to me.”