HOUSTON, Texas (KBTX) – With the possibility of revenue sharing with athletes on the horizon, Texas A&M athletic director Trev Alberts has repeatedly beat the drum of generating new revenue streams for the athletic department.
As an undercurrent of deep techno beats filled a press conference room more recognizable as night club, Alberts and Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte announced the newest prize in the battle for revenue.
The return of Aggie and Longhorn rivalry, holding the traditional moniker of the Lone Star Showdown, will be sponsored by Cotton Holdings, an infrastructure support service that provides property restoration and recovery work.
“I think [the new revenue stream] is critically important,” Alberts said. “That’s the other thing that you have to put into context, right? We’re all viewing this game through the lens of the previous rivalry. Now that we haven’t had it for 12 years, think of where college football has changed in those 12 years. And so, the reality now, in terms of strength of brand, growing your revenue, looking for new creative ways — you’re going to need to do more of this kind of stuff, rather than less.”
The sponsorship is a three-year deal, with the potential to extend it further, Alberts said. The opportunity to play, and in turn to reap the financial benefits, was made possible by Texas joining the Southeastern Conference on July 1. However, with the Southeastern Conference yet to decide on a scheduling model with 16 teams, the renewed game is only guaranteed to take place in 2024 and 2025.
Alberts said the full value of the sponsorship deal is still a work in progress.
“We have some of the basic general perimeters of it all laid out, but I’d rather not, at this point, lay out exactly what it all details. Obviously, there’s a monetary component to it. There’s inventory that Cotton Holdings has access to that’s advanced from where we currently are, but there’s actually some additional details we’re still working on,” added Alberts.
Cotton began a sponsorship relationship with Aggie athletics in 2023. Neither athletic director knew if a bidding process for the sponsorship took place before Cotton was selected.
The sponsorship entails more than just the renewal of the football game, which will resume in Kyle Field on Nov. 30, but encompasses every sport that will square off between the programs. There will be some kind of points system developed to keep track of wins between the programs and a champion will be crowned at the end of the academic year, Alberts said, similar to the previous iteration of the Showdown that was sponsored by State Farm. In the old system, a team was awarded one point for a win in a head-to-head matchup and ½ a point for a tie. The winner of a three game baseball series received one point and sports that had two meetings between the programs valued each game as ½ of a point.
This contest began in 2004 and ran until the Aggies left the Big 12 after the 2011-12 season. Texas won six of the eight seasons, with the Aggies claiming narrow wins in 2007-08 and 2008-09.
The State Farm Lone Star Showdown trophy was fashioned in the shape of state of Texas, resting on a pedestal. Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte said they found the trophy recently, which Texas claimed after the 2011-12 season.
“Every game will matter,” Del Conte said. “I just dusted off the old trophy and saw it when they found it. It’s fantastic.”
There is also the possibility that the football game could inherit a trophy, with details on that still yet to be determined, Alberts said.
“There has been some discussions about those types of things,” slated Alberts. “I don’t have specifics on the details yet. Those are some of the details, as I mentioned earlier, that still need to be worked out as we kind of work through it, but that’d be kind of fun.”
The Aggie volleyball team will be the first to face off against the Longhorns, hosting Texas on Sept. 27.
“Growing up in Texas, the rivalry between The University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University was legendary. Since founding Cotton, it has been a dream of mine to see our brand represent this series,” Pete Bell, Founder & CEO of Cotton Holdings, shared in a statement. “We are proud to support these two great universities and are extremely honored to serve as the title sponsor for the Lone Star Showdown and the return of their historic rivalry.”
Bell is a graduate of Sam Houston.
Cotton will also engage in name, image and likeness deals with athletes from both programs, a spokesperson from the company said. A&M quarterback Conner Weigman has a prior NIL relationship with the company, a fact highlighted by Bell during the press conference. As many as 15 Aggie athletes could earn NIL compensation from the company, according to the spokesperson.
Former A&M head coach RC Slocum, who held a 16-14 record in the series, was in attendance at the press conference Thursday. He said it has always been important to him to keep the game on Thanksgiving week.
“[The game] goes back in the 1800s. It was crazy for us not to play.” Slocum said. “And I’m so excited about it. I’m excited it’s on Thanksgiving weekend, too. To me, that was very important. There was some talk early on about playing it in October or something and I stood on top of the table saying, ‘This game has got to be on Thanksgiving weekend sometime.’”
Both athletic directors echoed this sentiment, with Del Conte saying he hopes it could reside on Black Friday, away from the three NFL timeslots on Thanksgiving day.
“If it was up to my druthers, I’d like to play it on Friday night,” he said. “It would be great. Unencumbered. You’re the only game, the only show you think about from coast to coast. A Friday night game would be spectacular.”
Most importantly, both programs are cashing in on the anticipation that has been building for the last 13 years.
“These are the types of things that I think can really enhance and advance your brand,” Alberts said. “Obviously, in the state of Texas, this game is really, really important to a lot of people. Divides a lot of people. This is what makes college athletics, college athletics… Give us a little time and Texas and Texas A&M will be the best rivalry football game in college football.”
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