Kailey Krantz | Staff Writer
While a celebrity endorsement sounds great, this partnership rubs me the wrong way. The FIU Stadium being dedicated to Pitbull seems like nothing more than a marketing tactic with no substantial benefits.
On Aug. 6, Athletic Director Scott Carr announced that the football stadium would be renamed the Pitbull Stadium to honor the partnership between FIU Athletics and the Miami rapper for a 5-year deal that cost $6,000,000.
Part of this partnership includes Pitbull writing an FIU Anthem to be played at the football games, his vodka line “Voli 305” being sold and a potential concert being held at the stadium.
This announcement was unexpected to say the least. I couldn’t help but cringe while watching some of the highlights of the press conference.
In Pitbull’s announcement he said that FIU was always “fighting, clawing their way just to be seen…whether it be from education, business and sports.”
If that was the case, how come the $6,000,000 was only explicit for the Athletics Department and not the other programs that are in dire need of funding?
$6,000,000 is a huge deal. The possibilities are endless when given that much money and it could help so many students and the school’s programs when it’s done right.
SGA is already struggling with budgeting out $19,000,000 to different clubs and organizations equally, so the $6,000,000 boost would’ve been really helpful.
Why are we giving this much attention and care to the Athletics Department when we haven’t won a lot of games and no one is showing up to them?
It comes off as a forced marketing ploy and we can tell when we’re being pandered to. Some of us grew up listening to Pitbull’s music, but the nostalgia factor isn’t always going to work.
He says he’s doing this partnership because “the FIU story is the Miami story,” but he didn’t graduate from this school. Had he been an FIU alum, this sentiment would’ve been much more impactful.
The immediate sale of Pitbull shirts makes me think this is just a marketing tactic, rather than a genuine effort to better help the school.
So far, we haven’t gotten any details as to how this money would benefit the rest of the school and that’s what frustrates me.
With the housing crisis and the broken elevators, the money could’ve been used to solve these issues instead of it being a reputation boost.
This marketing tactic is superficial and insensitive to the current students, faculty and alumni who have worked their hardest to create the legacy FIU wants to promote to potential future students.
The benefits of monetary donations and partnerships for school programs are undeniable, but we should use that money more wisely. A famous name on a billboard isn’t enough to help our students get the education they deserve.
DISCLAIMER:
The opinions presented on this page do not represent the views of the PantherNOW Editorial Board. These views are separate from editorials and reflect individual perspectives of contributing writers and/or members of the University community.
This post is very misguided. I think the author should do more research and understand the nature of this deal. This is the first of many similar deals across university sports. Pitbull is a Miami Icon and this is an incredible moment for FIU.
I would have preferred naming the stadium “FIU Worldwide”. That name simultaneously acknowledges the international nature of FIU while wordsmithing “Mr. Worldwide” into the stadium name. It also avoids the obvious mismatch between a Pitbull Stadium that has as its mascot a panther.