Most college athletics revenue streams are obvious and transactional. “Set it and forget it.” Your MMR partner sells sponsorships and takes a fee. Ticketmaster sells your tickets. Aramark sells your concessions. Fanatics sells your merchandise. Donor software manages your contacts.

But sitting at the heart of all those transactions is something potentially more valuable than the university’s share of a T-shirt sale: fan data.

It’s a treasure trove of information about the fan’s journey. What do they watch? What do they buy? Which teams and athletes do they follow? How do they engage and what motivates them? Properly understood, that information can drive better fan experiences and significant incremental revenue.

Like the Gold Rush of the 1800s, universities increasingly know there’s “gold in them thar hills.” The question is where it is, and how to extract it.

It starts with universities taking greater ownership of their data and, just as importantly, the fan relationships that create it. That means building a destination where generations of fan affinity can be maximized year-round, combining utility, content and community, sewn together by the emotional connection fans have with their school.

But building a destination isn’t really enough. It needs to be nurtured and marketed. Why is this valuable to a student? A parent? An alum? A diehard local fan? Why should any of them make the platform part of their daily routine?

The........

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