The University of Cincinnati has taken a big step in its effort to be ready to compete in the Big 12 Conference.
Total Quality Logistics has reached a multiyear deal with UC to purchase naming rights of the field at Nippert Stadium, investing millions in the athletic department to help build a permanent indoor practice facility.
Terms of the deal, announced Monday by TQL and the university, are not yet known. But athletic director John Cunningham said the deal helps UC reach the $80 million mark in its $100 million capital campaign to build the practice facility and make other upgrades needed for the Bearcats to be ready to begin play in the Power Five conference later this year.
“We want to help the UC community be ready for Day 1 in the Big 12,” TQL president Kerry Byrne said.
TQL is allowing all the historic stadium’s names to remain the same. UC’s football venue will continue to be called Nippert Stadium, and the playing surface will remain Carson Field. The field is named after Arch Carson, who helped to start football at UC in 1885 and build the facility in 1901.
It says a lot for a naming-rights company to allow the traditional names to remain on a sports venue. Byrne respects the history of the second-oldest stadium in college football. Byrne, a 1987 UC graduate, is a former Bearcats baseball player. He’s currently a member of the UC Health Board of Directors.
“It just didn’t feel right to rename it,” Byrne said. “We’re excited to have our brand on the field.”
TQL logos will be placed on the Nippert Stadium turf on the 25-yard-line on each side of the field. The company’s log also will be on the on-field suites, which were added last season in the north end zone.
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The names remaining unchanged also will help local sports fans to avoid any confusion about what to call some of the local stadiums. TQL Stadium in the West End is the home of FC Cincinnati. The region's largest private company reached the naming rights deal with the Major League Soccer franchise ahead of its new stadium opening in spring 2021.
The UC deal is another sign of TQL’s rapid growth. It is North America’s second-largest freight brokerage company. The Nippert Stadium deal will allow TQL to continue to expand its brand nationwide, with the Bearcats playing in a conference that typically gets more national television exposure. TQL has 10,000 employees in 56 offices across 26 states. Some 700 TQL employees are UC alums.
The national exposure will help a company that is “always recruiting,” Byrne said.
UC has been working toward building the permanent practice facility to replace the temporary bubble the Bearcats football team currently uses. A practice center is a must-have in the recruiting arms race of college football. UC has not set a groundbreaking date yet for the facility.
Contact columnist Jason Williams by email at j[email protected] and on Twitter @jwilliamscincy.
