FIU pioneering ‘Pitbull’ naming deal

Article posted by Coliseum, August 14^th, 2024

Image: FIU at UCF, elisfkc, CC BY-SA 2.0

Miami (US)-based rapped Pitbull signed a first-of-its-kind deal with the Florida International University (FIU) for the naming rights of its football stadium – the FIU Football Stadium in University Park, Florida (US) – on August 6^th.

‘The Palm Beach Post’ stated that the Panthers’ field will be called the Pitbull Stadium for at least the next five years. It’s the first sports venue in the world named after a musical artiste, according to the school. He acknowledged that he didn’t attend FIU, nor did he graduate from high school, but that he has ties to the school through “people that I love dearly”.

The Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in University Park, Florida, US. Founded in 1965 by the Florida Legislature, the school opened its doors to the students in 1972. The FIU has grown to become the third-largest university in Florida and the eighth-largest public university in the United States by enrollment.

The 20,000-capacity FIU Stadium ((also known under its sponsored name Pitbull Stadium) is a college football and soccer stadium on the campus of the Florida International University in the unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida (US) with a Miami mailing address. It is the home stadium of the FIU Panthers football team and the Miami FC soccer team from the United Soccer League (USL) Championship.

The FIU Panthers football program represents the Florida International University (FIU) in the sport of American football. The Panthers compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the East Division of Conference USA (CUSA).

Indianapolis (US)-based the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States and one in Canada. It also organizes the athletic programs of the colleges and helps over 500,000 college student-athletes who compete annually in college sports.

The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as the Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As of the 2024 season, there are 10 Conferences and 134 schools in the FBS.

The Miami FC is an American professional soccer team based in Miami, Florida (US) that competes in the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid.

Dallas (US)-based the Conference USA is an intercollegiate athletic Conference whose member institutions are located within the Southern United States and Western United States. The Conference participates in the NCAA’s Division I in all sports.

Armando Christian Pérez, known professionally as Pitbull, is an American rapper and singer. He began his career in the early 2000s and recorded reggaeton (modern style of popular music that originated in Puerto Rico, unincorporated US territory) Latin hip hop and crunk music (Southern hip hop) under a multitude of labels.

‘The Palm Beach Post’ further stated that the rapper said at a ceremony on the campus on August 6^th, “What we’re doing here is groundbreaking. We’re making history. This is history in the making. You’re going to see every other university wants to do the same thing. But the difference is we don’t do this for propaganda. We do it from the heart. We do it because it’s meaningful. We do it because I’m from the crib. I’m 305. This is my backyard.”

Here’s what the agreement contains:

Pitbull pays $1.2 million per year;
Pitbull gets naming rights to the FIU football stadium through 2028 (with an option for Pitbull to renew the deal through 2033);
Pitbull’s Voli 305 Vodka will be the preferred brand sold at the stadium;
Pitbull will get use of the stadium 10 days per year;
Pitbull gets two reserved suites for each home game;
Pitbull gets the title ‘Official Entrepreneur of FIU Athletics’; and
Pitbull will write an anthem for the FIU.

Historic Deal

‘TODAY’ stated that the FIU said it is the first agreement where an artiste possesses the naming rights to a stadium. Pérez will also be involved with FIU’s efforts in the name, image and likeness space, FIU Athletic Director Scott Carr said.

Commented Carr, “This is a historic day for the FIU Athletics to uniquely partner with a world-renowned artiste and an amazing person who truly values relationships and his community. Armando’s financial support is program-changing, but he providing a microphone to amplify the FIU will be even more beneficial to growing our brand.”

‘TODAY’ further stated that Pitbull – who is also known as ‘Mr. 305’, a nod to Miami’s area code – kicked off his music career in the South Florida rap scene around 2004 eventually becoming one of the world’s most recognized artistes.

Pointed out Kenneth A. Jessell, FIU President, “Pitbull’s career trajectory mirrors FIU’s ascent as one of the nation’s top public research universities. Like the FIU, he started out very 305 and became worldwide.”

Pérez has been a longtime proponent of supporting education in South Florida. The FIU said he founded the first SLAM! (Sports Leadership, Arts and Management) tuition-free public charter school in Miami in 2012.

Concluded Pérez, “This is about uniting everybody. This is about bringing everybody together. … Hard work is what pays off. They tell me, ‘You so lucky.’ Well, the harder I work, the luckier I get.”

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