Current:Home > FinancePitbull Stadium is the new home of FIU football. The artist has bought the naming rights -BeyondProfit Compass
Pitbull Stadium is the new home of FIU football. The artist has bought the naming rights
View
Date:2025-04-12 09:51:39
Welcome to Pitbull Stadium, the home of your FIU Panthers.
Florida International announced what could end up as a 10-year agreement on Tuesday with international recording artist, Grammy winner and entrepreneur Armando Christian Pérez — the Miami native better known as Pitbull — to put his name on their on-campus stadium.
Pérez will pay $1.2 million annually for the next five years, the university said, for the naming rights. He will have an option in August 2029 to extend the deal for another five years and continue the rebranding.
“Yes, we’re going to create history in Pitbull Stadium,” Pérez said during a news conference in Miami. “This isn’t just an announcement. This is a movement. This is truly history in the making.”
FIU said it is the first agreement where an artist possesses the naming rights to a stadium. Pérez will also be involved with FIU’s efforts in the name, image and likeness space, athletic director Scott Carr said.
“This is a historic day for FIU athletics to uniquely partner with a world-renowned artist and amazing person who truly values relationships and his community,” Carr said. “Armando’s financial support is program-changing, but him providing a microphone to amplify FIU will be even more beneficial to growing our brand.”
As part of the deal, Pérez gets use of the stadium for 10 days each year rent-free, with some tickets to those events to be set aside for FIU students. A vodka brand he owns will be a preferred brand at the stadium going forward, he will receive use of two suites and 20 VIP parking passes for FIU football home games, and he’s being asked to create an “FIU Anthem” to be played at the school’s athletic contests.
“It’s a true blessing, a true honor,” Pérez said. “Let’s make history.”
Pitbull — who also goes by “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 artists.
“Pitbull’s career trajectory mirrors FIU’s ascent as one of the nation’s top public research universities,” FIU President Kenneth A. Jessell said. “Like FIU, he started out very 305 and became worldwide.”
Pérez has been a longtime proponent of supporting education in South Florida. FIU said he founded the first SLAM! (Sports Leadership, Arts, and Management) tuition-free public charter school in Miami in 2012.
“This is about uniting everybody,” he said. “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.”
___
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here.
___
AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
veryGood! (3)
Related
- 'As foretold in the prophecy': Elon Musk and internet react as Tesla stock hits $420 all
- TGL pushes start date to 2025 due to recent stadium issue
- Old video games are new again on Atari 2600+ retro-gaming console
- 2-year-old injured after firing gun he pulled from his mother's purse inside Ohio Walmart
- As Trump Enters Office, a Ripe Oil and Gas Target Appears: An Alabama National Forest
- Horoscopes Today, November 20, 2023
- Gisele Bündchen Reflects on Importance of Kindness Amid Silent Struggles
- Video shows elk charge at Colorado couple: 'Felt like we were in an Indiana Jones film'
- Former longtime South Carolina congressman John Spratt dies at 82
- Gisele Bündchen Reflects on Importance of Kindness Amid Silent Struggles
Ranking
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Triathlon
- 911 call center says its misidentified crossing before derailment of Chicago-bound Amtrak train
- NBA power rankings: Sacramento Kings rolling with six straight wins, climbing in West
- Takeaways on fine water, a growing trend for the privileged in a world that’s increasingly thirsty
- Senate begins final push to expand Social Security benefits for millions of people
- Americans say money can buy happiness. Here's their price tag.
- Israel reveals signs of Hamas activity at Shifa, but a promised command center remains elusive
- With patriotic reggaeton and videos, Venezuela’s government fans territorial dispute with Guyana
Recommendation
US appeals court rejects Nasdaq’s diversity rules for company boards
Slain New Hampshire security guard honored at candlelight vigil
Why is Angel Reese benched? What we know about LSU star as she misses another game
Key L.A. freeway hit by arson fire reopens weeks earlier than expected
FACT FOCUS: Inspector general’s Jan. 6 report misrepresented as proof of FBI setup
Erin Andrews Breaks Down in Tears Detailing Moment She Learned She'd Been Secretly Videotaped
NBA power rankings: Sacramento Kings rolling with six straight wins, climbing in West
2 children struck and killed as they walked to Maryland elementary school