"We're at the highest clip of ticket sales we've been at since 2018."
Athletic Director Desireé Reed-Francois is thrilled with the momentum of Arizona Football since Brent Brennan took over as head coach: pic.twitter.com/4XoJOxG11j
— Jenna Fink (@jennamfink) July 11, 2024
LAS VEGAS — Arizona athletic director Desireé Reed-Francois mentioned Wednesday at the Big 12 Media Days that while naming-rights negotiations for Arizona Stadium could last at least another year, a deal for corporate logos on the football field will come sooner.
Last month, the NCAA’s Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved the use of corporate logos on fields for regular-season games in all divisions. The change was effective immediately.
“We’re in Week 2 with Arizona Sports Enterprises (Arizona’s business operations division created by Reed-Francois); we have lists going and we’re starting meetings,” she mentioned about potential naming rights and corporate logos on the football field.
When asked for a possible timeline when the naming rights for Arizona Stadium could take place, she said: “Probably not sooner than a year. It takes a little while to get those naming rights because it’s a long commitment. We want to make sure that there’s a brand alignment. If we’re going to name Arizona Stadium, we’ve got to make sure we have a brand that is reflective of our core values and who we are.”
Reed-Francois was asked if the long-term plan applies to corporate logos negotiated for the field.
“We’re in conversations with two corporate partners that we had two conversations with yesterday (Tuesday),” she said, adding that the process is “a lot quicker” than the negotiations for the stadium naming rights.
That is because the corporate logos on the field “will probably be a shorter term deal; the stadium naming-rights is the longer term.”
Reed-Francois added that the revenue produced from the corporate logos on the field will go toward payment of athletes stemming from the NCAA Board of Governors and Division I conferences, including the Big 12, approving a settlement of the House vs. NCAA antitrust case in May.
The NCAA and the conferences are expected to pay thousands of athletes $2.8 billion in retroactive NIL pay and broadcast revenue over a 10-year period. The settlement also opens the door for schools to opt-in to share as much as $22 million per year with athletes.
When asked if McKale Center is included in the naming-rights negotiations, Reed-Francois said, “We want to be very methodical. We’re going to go slow and steady on that one.”
“Again, we’re going to be very, very thoughtful on both naming rights opportunities and also we have the athletic village,” she continued. “We have to be aggressive and we have to be really innovative in finding new revenue. That’s part of our responsibility, but we have to make sure there’s a brand alignment. We need to make sure that company aligns with who we are.”
Arizona is also expected to get additional revenue from season ticket sales from football.
Reed-Francois told the Arizona Daily Star’s Justin Spears that new season ticket sales have increased by 40 percent.
BRIAN JEFFRIES NOT GOING ANYWHERE
Reed-Francois quelled any thought of veteran play-by-play announcer Brian Jeffries no longer broadcasting Arizona games by saying: “That’s not going to change. We’re going to keep Brian. He’s a legend.”
Reed-Francois decided to have Arizona produce its multimedia operations with the formation of Arizona Sports Enterprises.
Arizona previously partnered with Learfield IMG College to handle its multimedia operations.
When the creation of Arizona Sports Enterprises was announced, questions arose about Jeffries’ future as the “Voice of the Wildcats.” He took over as the school’s play-by-play broadcaster in the 1987-88 school year, when Arizona advanced to its first Final Four.
REED-FRANCOIS ON BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIPS IN LAS VEGAS
With Arizona just joining the Big 12 and the conference having arrangements with the basketball tournaments in Kansas City and the football title game in Arlington, Texas, until at least 2030 to 2031, Reed-Francois could not speak definitively on Las Vegas becoming a host to such events like it was for the Pac-12.
“I know that (Big 12) commissioner (Brett) Yormark is very aggressive. Everybody loves coming to Las Vegas. But I would really be giving you more of a guess than a thoughtful answer,” Reed-Francois, formerly the athletic director at UNLV, answered when asked if a point of emphasis will be placed on including Las Vegas with the conference’s championships.
“Our fans love coming to Las Vegas. I think Las Vegas is fantastic and Las Vegas knows how to throw an event like nobody else. … Our people in Arizona like coming to Las Vegas, so I would love for us to be in Las Vegas more.”
DYNAMIC OF PLENTY OF ARIZONA GRADS IN THE ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT
Reed-Francois graduated from Arizona’s Law School in 1997 and now she leads an athletic department that includes other alums such as Adia Barnes with women’s basketball, Caitlin Lowe with softball, Chip Hale with baseball and Charita Stubbs with volleyball.
The athletic department did lose one of its alums, women’s golf coach Laura Ianello, to Texas last month, but as Reed-Francois said about hiring a coach without Arizona ties: “It doesn’t mean you have to have an Arizona degree to be a special employee or be a special person in the department.”
Giovana Maymon, a standout at Baylor when she competed, now leads the women’s golf program.
Brent Brennan and other head coaches at Arizona did not earn a degree at the school, but Brennan is as close to the program one can get without doing so. He served as a graduate assistant with the Wildcats under Dick Tomey. His brother Brad Brennan played wide receiver at Arizona under Tomey. His wife Courtney graduated from Arizona.
“My mentor, Dick Tomey, was there for a really long time,” Brent Brennan said during the Big 12 Media Days press conference. “It’s very, very special for me to come back there. It’s also given me a really cool connection to kind of that ’90s generation when I was at UCLA and my brother was at the University of Arizona.
“It’s very special for me to be back there. I will say it’s an incredible responsibility because of how much I know everyone cares about Arizona football.”
Reed-Francois was asked about the dynamic of many in the department having Arizona roots, including herself:
“It’s pretty special. … People have asked me about my transition here and has it been a challenge at a dynamic time, etc. But there are some things I just know. I don’t have to go learn it. I just feel it. I’m gonna get a lot of things wrong. I don’t pretend to know everything. But I don’t have to go learn that 1997 was softball and men’s basketball (championships). I remember where I was when Coach (Lute) Olson cut down those nets and it’s just pretty neat to see some familiar people. … When I walked into Richard Jefferson (Gym) the other day, I saw Adia’s picture … There’s something special about having people who have some roots.”
MALDONADO EXAMPLE OF TODAY’S ATHLETE WHO MUST HAVE FORTITUDE
Asked Gunner Maldonado about all the challenges he has faced in his college career after his time at Chandler High (that included a two-interception game against Salpointe and Bijan Robinson in the Open Division semifinals in 2019). He attended Northwestern, transferred to… pic.twitter.com/hUkbW6WFvP
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) July 10, 2024
This is what has happened since Gunner Maldonado had two interceptions in an Open Division semifinal victory for Chandler over Salpointe, Bijan Robinson, Lathan Ransom, Jonah Miller and Treyson Bourguet in 2019:
— Attended Northwestern in 2020 and played in only three games with the season cut short by COVID-19.
— Transferred from Northwestern to Arizona in 2021.
— Started 15 of 21 games at safety for the Wildcats in 2021 and 2022 trying to establish himself and play through the noise of some fans on social media questioning his ability.
— Came on strong as the 2023 season progressed, starting all but one game.
— Recorded a career-high with 81 tackles (57 solo, 24 assists), posting a season-high 10 tackles twice; first against Oregon State on Oct. 28; second at Arizona State on Nov. 25. He ended the season with nine tackles, one interception, and returned a fumble 87 yards for a touchdown to earn Defensive MVP in the Alamo Bowl after the Wildcats defeated No. 12 Oklahoma 38-24 to secure a 10-win season.
— Experienced a coaching change after last season with Jedd Fisch going to Washington and Brent Brennan arriving from San Jose State.
— Now going through a conference change of going from the Pac-12 to the Big 12.
So that’s two schools, three head coaches and three conferences as he enters his fifth and final season of college football.
“It’s been a journey but it’s been a great one, though,” he said at Big 12 Media Days. “Every step of the way has put me into the person I am today. Not just the player, but the person I am today. I wouldn’t take back any moves I made in my college career.
“It worked out good for me and I’m happy to be where I’m at. I don’t think it ever goes as planned but I like how it went.”
Maldonado credits his former coach at Chandler, Rick Garretson, and Garretson’s long-term assistant there, Russell Scott, for helping him through some of the tough stretches in college.
He said Scott is a mentor to him who helped him with long talks when he was transferring out of Northwestern and that Garretson is someone he can reach out to at any time.
MALDONADO AND CHUCK CECIL SHARE LONG DEFENSIVE RETURNS IN MEANINGFUL GAMES
Maldonado and Arizona’s senior defensive assistant Chuck Cecil share a bond beyond the meeting room involving defensive backs.
Both of them have monumental returns on defensive plays for touchdowns that will be replayed forever on highlight clips — Cecil’s 106-yard pick-6 against Arizona State in 1986 and Maldonado’s 87-yard fumble return against Oklahoma.
Those two returns and Allen Durden’s 96-yard pick-6 at LSU in 1984 and Darryll Lewis’ 70-yard scoring run after a pick in the last minute at UCLA in a 28-21 win in 1990 are four of the top returns in program history.
“Coach Cecil’s the kind of guy that’s going to let other people speak for him,” Maldonado said. “I don’t think he’s ever talked to me personally about it, but trust me, I’ve watched that play many times.”
BRENNAN BRINGING OLD SCHOOL ARIZONA BACK WITH PROMINENT ASSISTANTS
As a graduate assistant under Tomey in 2000, Brennan was part of the staff with Duane Akina (defensive backs coach) and Dino Babers (offensive coordinator) while Bobby Wade was a sophomore wide receiver. All four of them are reunited at Arizona this season with Akina the defensive coordinator, Babers again the offensive coordinator and Wade the receivers coach.
“I thought it was just important that I had people on the staff that love and care about the University of Arizona,” Brennan said. “Brandon Sanders is in the building (as the coordinator of football alumni and high school relations). Chuck Cecil is in the building. Ricky Hunley is in the building (as the executive director of player relations and external development).
“It’s so important for me that there’s players that played in the uniform, that care deeply about the U of A touching our team, involved with our team. I really want that to be a part of it. I think that’s one of those things that it’s hard to have if you haven’t lived it, and those guys have lived it at such a high level. I want our players to have that around them and to experience it.”
MANU HAS STRONG PICKLEBALL GAME
Reed-Francois learned while flying with Arizona’s players to Las Vegas that Arizona linebacker Jacob Manu is also talented on the pickleball court.
“Did you guys know Nuku (Manu’s Polynesian nickname) is the best pickleball player?” she asked a few members of the media.
“I don’t play a lot; I only play on my free time,” Manu said. “When we have recruits over, we take them to Corbetts. They have pickleball there, so we play over there, too.”
“Manu was full-on whipping the recruits and stuff like that,” Maldonado said. “He for sure has skills.”
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon. He became an educator in 2016 and is presently a special education teacher at Sunnyside High School in the Sunnyside Unified School District.
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