ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the media career of Clyde Lear, who, in 1972, started Missouri Network, a statewide news and agriculture network, and parlayed it into Learfield Sports, an innovative leader among college multimedia property firms. Learfield first moved into sports as the exclusive radio broadcast provider for the University of Missouri in the 1970s, pioneering technological innovations such as the satellite transmission of radio broadcasts. Through the 1980s, Learfield increased both the number of universities it contracted with and the services offered. By 2018, Learfield would merge with IMG College in a deal valued at more than $2 billion. Learfield’s evolution provides an example of the growth of college sports media over the past five decades.
