DISTRESSED DAILY: No Post-Pandemic Jolt for Learfield’s Finances

Learfield Communications LLC., the college sports broadcasting giant, is struggling to find its financial footing even though sporting events have made a broad post-pandemic comeback.

Despite multimedia, ticketing and licensing revenues bouncing back from pandemic lows, colleges that demand more in fees for multimedia rights dented Learfield’s profitability for fiscal year 2022, according to a recent note from Moody’s Investors Service.

The Jefferson City, Missouri-based firm also maintains an “extremely high leverage” ratio of 30 times its measure of earnings and has a series of loans due in the next 24 months, factors that concern Moody’s analysts.

The ...