Ohio Athletics announced Tuesday it has begun a process to sell naming rights for The Convo and the field at Peden Stadium for the first time in the venues’ respective histories.
Athletics will be partnering with Front Row Marketing to secure naming rights by selling and evaluating any commercial sponsorship. Its clients include collegiate venues at Temple University, Drexel University and James Madison University, as well as various professional sporting venues from each of the four major domestic sports.
Ohio Director of Athletics Jim Schaus said that Athletics and Front Row Marketing have been working together for a year with the purpose of engaging new sources of revenue, rather than the usual alumni and donors. He added that it’s “too early” to gauge interest from potential sponsors or how much a deal would cost and that there is no timetable for a deal.
“We hope to generate several million dollars,” Schaus said. “That (number) is very generic in nature, but there’s a lot of institutions — a lot of schools, not just professional facilities — who have had a lot of success in looking for corporate sponsorship opportunities.”
Schaus added that the the revenue could also go toward facility renovations but will be focused toward academics.
“We’re actually targeting revenue that we receive from these projects for academics,” he said. “Our goal is to apply the resources we get towards academic services.”
Peden Stadium will hold its original naming rights from its dedication after former Ohio coach Don Peden, who is the winningest coach in program history. However, the field, which was resurfaced this past summer, is eligible to be re-named.
Schaus said that The Convo could have a total renaming and gave examples that the name could end in “arena” rather than a sponsor’s name at The Convo, as Peden’s will be. Ohio Athletics has final approval of any name change, though.
The Convo, which opened 40 years after Peden Stadium in 1968, features the MAC’s largest capacity at 13,080 for athletic events, but can hold up to 15,000 people for convocations. It is the home site for the Ohio basketball, volleyball and wrestling teams and has also hosted concerts, commencements and other events.
Each venue held the most fans of any MAC venue last season.
@ChadLindskog
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This article appeared in print under the headline "Stadium naming rights on market."
