Progressive insurance, already one of the most-recognized U.S. insurance brands, will gain more exposure this fall with its logo placement on 13 colleg
e football fields, including the fields at Ole Miss, Georgia, Oregon, USC, Boise State, Colorado State, Io
wa, Kansas State, Purdue, SMU, Syracuse, Texas Tech and Wake Forest.
Terms of the deals were not disclosed, but news sites have reported that the going rate for co
rporate logos on major college football fields is about $3.5 million a year, with some schools comman
ding as much as $15 million, Bloomberg News and Sports Business Journal have reported.
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“As we look for additional revenue streams while maintaining our strong positioning
on a national level, this relationship assists in providing the necessary resources for our student-athl
etes,” Georgia’s director of athletics, Josh Brooks, said in a statement.
Progressive’s deal with Georgia, for example, includes field logos, along with signage and social media placements. Last season, it was a Delta Air Lines logo that
was painted on the turf near the 20-yard line at Georgia’s Dooley Field.
It’s the latest move toward more corporate sponsorships and big money into college and professional sports venues and uniforms.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association allowed colleges to contract for commercial sponsorship of football fields starting in 2024. And early this year, the NCAA opened a new revenue stream for athletic departments
by allowing corporate uniform patches. The terms of the uniform deals are expected to range from $500,
000 to more than $12 million annually, said Cole Gahagan, president and chief executive officer of Lear
field, a multimedia rights firm that works with hundreds of schools to broker commercial deals, Bloomberg reported.