Since taking its corporate sponsorship program in-house three years ago, the University of Hawai'i athletic department is on the way to tripling its sales, associate athletic director John McNamara said.

McNamara said UH's "Invest in Success" corporate partner program will take in $2.4 million for the fiscal year that ends June 30 and reach at least $2.6 million next year.

In 2002-03, the last year that UH outsourced its sponsorships to agent Leigh Steinberg's firm, UH said it made $899,000.

"We had lofty goals but the receptiveness of the corporate community has been outstanding," McNamara said.

The boom in sponsorships comes at an important time for an athletic department that is attempting to end four consecutive years of deficits and an overall $4.6 million accumulated debt, according to independent auditors.

UH has 72 corporate sponsors who pay from a few thousand dollars to more than $100,000 annually to attach their names and logos to the state's only Division I-A athletic program.

At its highest level, platinum, 12 sponsors pay a minimum of $100,000 annually, not including trade. The Honolulu Advertiser is a platinum sponsor. Sponsors receive signage rights at UH events, promotion opportunities and tickets.

Pepsi is a long-time platinum sponsor, and general manager Gary Yoshioka said, "we believe in the University of Hawai'i overall as an institution and we want to support it as a key educational institution in our community, and we view the athletics program as a big part of it. We also feel it does give us a positive exposure of our brands and of our business."

UH's decision to go in-house came after two years with Steinberg Enterprises, a partnership that had been brokered by football coach June Jones, a Steinberg client.

Previous to the Steinberg deal, UH had a two-person marketing staff that generated approximately $600,000 in sales. But that was disbanded in 1999 amid efforts to pare the $1 million deficit that accompanied the 0-12 football season of 1998. In 1999, UH relied on its television and radio partners, KFVE and KKEA, and existing contracts.

"Bringing it back in-house was one of the first things (athletic director) Herman Frazier wanted to do when he came in (in 2002)," McNamara said. "There's a lot of affinity in the Hawai'i market for UH and he felt that was something that could best be tapped by working with the department directly."

Previously, UH had also often sold sponsorships by sport. But McNamara said "we have re-branded sponsorships and worked to make sure they weren't just brought in as just football or men's basketball (sponsors) but in a broad-based package."

UH's decision to return in-house contrasts with a national trend in collegiate athletics toward out-sourcing to specialists, McNamara said.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com.