USC Trojans Athletics Expands NIL Footprint with Learfield Partnership

After a somewhat disappointing first season in the Big Ten Conference, USC is leveling up their NIL efforts on the football and basketball recruiting trails and via a groundbreaking partnership with college sports' leading media and technology brand.

Building on the major momentum for football coach Lincoln Riley's top-ranked 2026 recruiting class, the Trojans' athletic department announced this week a new 15-year deal with Learfield to support the school's NIL, revenue generation and multimedia rights efforts.

USC athletics will use Learfield’s NIL services that include leadership resources, strategic content creation and the Compass platform for brands and athletes.

According to Learfield, their Compass NIL platform integrates into the company's partner database of over 12,000 brands, that will create new opportunities for student-athletes to help secure more deals.

Home of the second largest media market in the United States and a passionate and affluent alumni network, USC has surprisingly struggled with NIL in years past, but has recently reinvested their resources — both internally and externally — to compete nationally for the top recruiting classes.

“We are thrilled to announce this transformational partnership with Learfield and to leverage their innovation and expertise in our work to win the new era of college athletics,” said Jen Cohen, USC’s Charles Griffin Cale Director of Athletics. “Learfield’s combination of cutting-edge solutions, forward-thinking revenue-generation strategies, and collaborative leadership and focus will be invaluable in our work to better engage new and existing fans, promote and expand the iconic USC brand, and to generate the resources needed to maximize our investment in student-athletes."