Progressive Insurance, through a new agreement with media and technology company Learfield, announced on Tuesday a collaboration to bring its brand to 13 schools, including Syracuse, with on-field branding for college football games.
Mayfield Village, Ohio-based Progressive, one of the country's largest insurance companies, says that it will have on-field branding at stadiums for the college football teams of Boise State, Colorado, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Purdue, SMU, Syracuse, Texas Tech, USC and Wake Forest.
As a sponsor of these schools, per the press release, "Progressive’s national presence will be complemented by in-game videoboard features, in-venue LED signage, digital and social media integrations and other game-day experiences designed to engage fans before kickoff, throughout the game and beyond the final whistle."
According to the announcement, Progressive's branding and other marketing elements will debut at the start of the 2026 season, which for the Orange begins at home against non-conference foe New Hampshire on Saturday, Sept. 5.
The agreement announced on Tuesday was facilitated by Learfield’s corporate partnership team. Learfield is based in Dallas.
Syracuse football will have Progressive Insurance branding at the Dome for its home games this season.
Starting with the 2025-26 sports season, schools could begin paying their athletes directly in the form of revenue-sharing, as a result of the multi-billion-dollar House antitrust settlement that was approved last summer.
Since schools, including Syracuse, are now setting aside millions of dollars to pay their athletes year after year, they have to find additional revenue streams to remain competitive in their respective conferences and nationwide.
Other sources of revenue are being generated by striking partnerships with corporate sponsors for commercial logos on helmets, jerseys and uniforms. As Inside the Loud House noted last week, SU Athletics has yet to publicly announce a deal that would put a logo on 'Cuse sports teams' helmets, jerseys or uniforms.
“We are excited to be a part of the college football landscape with this investment,” said Sean Freeman, a media business leader at Progressive, in Tuesday's statement. “It is an opportunity to support the collegiate student-athletes at these storied institutions as well as create a unique viewing experience for the fans. College football is ingrained in the cultures at these Universities and we are proud to be a small part of those traditions.”
Messages left for Progressive, Learfield and Syracuse Athletics by Inside the Loud House were not immediately returned on Tuesday afternoon.
Add us as a preferred source on Google