Rutgers signs two biggest sponsorship deals in history

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Rutgers’ move into the Big Ten is paying off financially before the school’s first game in the conference.The university has reached agreements on the two biggest sponsorship deals in school history — five-year contracts with Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and AmeriHealth New Jersey that are worth more than $5 million combined, two people with knowledge of the deals told NJBIZ.

The people requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak about the specifics of the deals.

IMG, the marketing arm of the university’s athletic program, also declined specific comment, citing company policy.

“As a private company serving university partners and their supporting brands, we don’t disclose financial information,” IMG spokesman Andrew Giangola said.

This much is known: The deals are exclusive, meaning the companies will be the only ones in their industry to partner with the university.

And both Robert Wood Johnson and AmeriHealth will be given additional benefits: Each will be given naming rights at a main gate to High Point Solutions Stadium, among other opportunities.

The deals are just two of more than two dozen sponsorships IMG has secured for Rutgers. And while they are the biggest, John Willi, the general manager of Rutgers IMG Sports Marketing, said they are part of a bigger trend.

“Of the 23 contracts we have renewed this year, 20 are more significant in either dollars or years,” he said. “Many are both.”

Rutgers’ Athletic Director Julie Hermann feels the school’s relationship with IMG has been a big plus.

​”We’re extremely pleased with the expanded and new sponsorship agreements IMG College has secured for Rutgers,” she said. “When we entered into our partnership with IMG College it was with the intent to maximize our potential through sponsorship agreements and media rights inventory consistent with our new Big Ten peers. This is tremendous progress in less than a year and another example of why College IMG is the gold standard in the industry.”

The only bigger financial deal in school history would be the naming rights agreement Rutgers signed with High Point Solutions in 2011.

Hermann said that deal, worth $6.5 million over 10 years, has been a key to future deals.
“We’re so fortunate to have an exceptional naming rights partner in High Point Solutions setting the standard for corporate support of our state school,” she said. “Having High Point Solutions name on our stadium is an opportunity to associate with a global, best in class New Jersey company. Mike and Tom Mendiburu embody our ‘Global reach. New Jersey roots’ to the core.”