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Is Sports Illustrated On Campus Heading to Your Facility?

Potential Agreement Would Effect Free Magazine Distribution on NIRSA Member Campuses

If everything goes as planned, NIRSA Institutional Member recreational facilities will soon become the exclusive distributors of Sports Illustrated On Campus (SIOC) magazine. First published in 2003, SIOC has been distributed as an insert in campus newspapers on 74 colleges and universities. Now, a pending agreement between NIRSA and Time Distribution Services, Inc. (TDS) will give select NIRSA Member Institutions exclusive distributorship of SIOC magazine on their campuses.

This program is presented as part of NIRSA's sport club and extramural National Campus Championship Series and arranged through the NIRSA Services Corporation (NSC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Association. The program will initially encompass 150 schools and run during the September 2005-December 2005 academic term; however, with a successful launch, an expanded agreement with broader Member Institution involvement is highly likely.

To capitalize on student passion for collegiate sports and recreational pursuits, NIRSA is partnering with TDS to provide students with free copies of SIOC during a pilot program for the fall 2005 quarter/semester. The program is straightforward. Participating NIRSA institutions agree to set up display racks (provided by TDS) at facility access points. Participants can also choose to distribute SIOC at other select venues and/or special events run via their departments, and SIOC may have other distribution options available as well.

For their participation, NIRSA will pay each participating institution cash, contingent on the number of issues they distribute (in accordance with university enrollment), as well as a cash stipend to help fund an SIOC administrator at their facility. Students will enjoy reading SIOC and NIRSA will receive tremendous national exposure, which will provide huge benefits for the Association, our programs, our Institutional Members, and our profession as a whole. This pilot program could also result in the launch of a series of additionally beneficial programs for NIRSA and each campus.

The timing for the pilot program is September 2005 through December 2005. Further details will be announced as they develop.