EBSCO Media Produces the 2011 SEC Media Guide

College and athletic conference media guides are a staple of EBSCO Media’s (EM) business, especially in the months leading up to the college football season each fall. With an expertise in producing sports media, EM was awarded the job to print the coveted 2011 Southeastern Conference (SEC) Football Media Guide, which generated more buzz than ever before with its boastful design.

Chuck Dunlap, associate director of media relations for the SEC headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., told EM that after featuring a trophy on the cover of the annual media guide in recent years, the conference wanted to try something new. The SEC sought to recognize the conference’s football teams who have won the last five Bowl Championship Series (BCS) national championships by featuring a No. 5 jersey with “HOME OF FIVE CONSECUTIVE BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS” written across the bottom.

The original design earned the media guide coverage on ESPN, CNN, CBSSports.com and other media outlets around the South. Dunlap said the response the cover received from fans was anticipated (the SEC even created a T-shirt of the design), but, “I certainly did not expect our media guide cover to be talked about on SportsCenter,” he said.