Yes, a college football stadium will be renamed after the music artist Pitbull. No, it won’t be called Dale Park or Mr. Worldwide Arena.
Instead, Florida International University will rename its football stadium as simply “Pitbull Stadium,” after the artist himself. The new name comes after Pitbull and FIU announced a partnership Tuesday that made FIU the first university to have a college athletics building named after a musician. Pitbull will pay $1.
2 million per year over the next five years for the naming rights, according to details of the partnership sent to The Washington Post by FIU. The singer will create an anthem for the school (which will be played at all FIU sports events), post about FIU on social media 12 times throughout the year and appear at an FIU athletics fundraising event for three hours every year of the deal. Pitbull will see some perks, too.
Mr. Worldwide will receive the title “Official Entrepreneur of FIU Athletics,” and will be allowed to use the stadium for 10 days throughout the year. And his vodka company, Voli 305 Vodka, will be distributed throughout the venue.
He also gets two reserved stadium suites, and a “Pitbull-affiliated performer” can play the halftime or postgame shows. “Renaming the stadium isn’t just about a name change,” said Pitbull, whose legal name is Armando Christian Perez, in a statement. “We’re making history together, and we’re just getting started.
Why dream when you can live it?” A representative for Pitbull did not respond to a request for comment. Many college athletic departments are hunting for new revenue streams to keep up with the highest spenders, like the Ohio States and Michigans of the world. Jersey patches, on-field ad spots and even private-equity partnerships are all on the table.
And yes, creative naming rights deals are, too. Pitbull is a Miami native who touts himself as “Mr. 305” after the city’s area code.
The city has always been a big part of Pitbull’s brand. He dominated radio stations and early streaming playlists throughout the 2010s with songs like “Give Me Everything” (which spent six weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2011), “Timber” (with Kesha) and “Feel This Moment” (with Christina Aguilera).
“Pitbull’s career trajectory mirrors FIU’s ascent as one of the nation’s top public research universities,” said FIU President Kenneth A. Jessell in a statement. “Like FIU, he started out very 305 and became worldwide.
” FIU’s stadium, which opened in 1995, seats 20,000 people. The first game at Pitbull Stadium is scheduled for Sept. 7 against Central Michigan.
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