The Arizona Board of Regents retained William Morris Endeavor (WME) as a consultant to help tackle the post-COVID financial challenges that have bedeviled the main campuses and athletic departments of Arizona and Arizona State, the state’s two largest public universities.
A copy of the consulting agreement obtained by Sportico shows the deal between the regents (who also oversee Northern Arizona University) and WME entails two projects: a comprehensive athletics needs assessment for the three universities, at a cost of $275,000 (plus $35,000 in travel expenses); and a year’s worth of “expert consultation on athletic strategy and emerging trends” for $120,000.
The agreement was signed in January by Michael Zavodsky, a partner at WME Sports and former NBA executive. Its execution coincided with Arizona State head football coach Kenny Dillingham—who has been represented by WME—receiving board approval a contract extension and salary increase.
That work purports to include advice for “capitalizing on underutilized revenue streams” and “changes in NCAA governance and regulation.”
Arizona and ASU, the state’s two largest public universities, have faced significant financial turmoil in recent years, compounded by the strain of their athletics programs.
On its most recent financial disclosures to the NCAA, Arizona’s athletic department reported receiving $36.2 million in subsidies in 2023-24 and still ending the fiscal year with a $20.5 million deficit. Arizona State, meanwhile, reported receiving over $51.7 million in campus subsidies in FY24 in order to claim a balanced athletics budget. This came after the school earlier last year agreed to wipe clean over $300,000 in athletics-related obligations, the second-largest such liability among public FBS schools, behind only Cal.
Both the Wildcats and Sun Devils are in their first year as members of the Big 12, which is reportedly in advanced talks with institutional capital firms about providing a cash infusion to the league. In 2022, the Big 12 engaged WME Sports and Endeavor’s IMG Media to advise it on its multimedia rights and social media strategy. According to the league’s tax return, it paid Endeavor’s parent company $230,000 for the fiscal year ending June 2023.
In addition to representing a number of college coaches, such as Dillingham, WME has in recent years signed NIL representation deals with a growing roster of college athletes, including LSU gymnast Livvy Dunne and Texas men’s basketball player Tre Johnson. The agency has also signed partnerships with NIL collectives like Notre Dame’s Golden Touch and UT’s Texas One Fund.
However, the deal with the Arizona Board of Regents marks WME’s first known athletic advisory deal with a university—or in this case, a trio of them. The regents did not respond to a request for comment.
Given that Arizona and ASU are both interstate and inter-league rivals, it’s notable—and potentially complicated—that the consulting is being managed at the system level, rather than on an individual school basis. However, signing on as a group can often be a more cost-effective approach. The WME agreement suggests it will advise about potential revenue generation opportunities for the three Arizona public schools to engage in “collectively.”
At the same time, WME plans to assist the board with “balancing institutional autonomy with systemwide priorities.”
Under the arrangement, WME is required to consult regularly with and report directly to the regents. For instance, the board’s leadership is expected to engage in biweekly consultation sessions with WME on athletic department matters, such as NIL compliance—issues that would typically be outside the scope of a governing body’s responsibilities.
(The headline and first three paragraphs of this story have been changed to correct the duration and expense of the agreement. This story has also been updated in the second paragraph to correct the name of Northern Arizona University.)
