By Hannah Werle
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – For many local businesses, the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics at Youngstown State University is a valuable partner in its marketing.
Corporate sponsors are the largest contributors to the budget of the athletics department.
Rob Schmidt, associate athletics director of corporate sponsorships and athletics marketing, oversees corporate sponsors whose generosity funds scholarships, maintains the fields, courts and locker rooms, pays coaching salaries and more.
“Corporate sponsorships are vital to the athletics department because that’s what raises revenue for the athletics department’s budget. There’s a set budget, but … we’re doing our portion in athletics marketing through corporate sponsorships to help raise money for the athletics department, which in turn goes towards scholarships, facilities, coaching,” Schmidt says. “It all goes into one pot.”
The athletics department has secured over $1 million annually through sponsorship agreements, including for the 2024–25 fiscal year. These sponsorships provide more than funding to the athletics department.
A major factor of the athletics department’s marketing strategy is making events and games enjoyable for fans. This is done through giveaways, raffles, tailgating parties and the like, most of which are funded by corporate sponsors.
Schmidt explains that each corporate sponsorship is customized to meet the specific needs of each business.
“They can come on game day – if they’re a corporate sponsor and it fits in. They can set up an informational display and hand out promotional items. So it’s a way for them to reach our fans,” Schmidt says. “We try to tailor make what’s best for them, to give them the most exposure.”
There are a variety of opportunities for interested businesses: giveaway and event sponsorships, commercial airings via broadcast or radio, and at-facility signage.
Sponsors can also have their companies’ logos featured on the athletics department’s website, pamphlets, newsletters and mailers.
According to Schmidt, another way the athletics department works with sponsors is by finding ways for it and YSU athletes to support their businesses.
Schmidt gave an example of a deal the athletics department might make with a sponsoring restaurant.
“Our teams have to feed the student-athletes. So a lot of times we try to give our coaches options on places they can go,” Schmidt says. “We’ll tell a restaurant, ‘We can recommend to our coach that [the team] come and eat here.’ So in their mind, they’re getting a return on their investment.”
A part of the customization is finding pricing that works for each business.
Schmidt says the average sponsorship ranges from $8,500 to $12,000.
The athletics department accounts for where advertisements are placed. Signage at a football or basketball game costs more than signage at YSU’s natatorium, for example.
For some sponsors, these deals are a multiyear investment. In 2015, Mercy Health signed a four-year sponsorship, and in 2018 it extended it for another 10 years.
Mercy Health is the department’s longest active contract. Most companies renew annually or for two to three years. Other major sponsors include Medical Mutual, Superior Beverage Group Ltd, Auto-Owners Insurance, Southwoods Health, Compco and State Farm.
YSU athletics also has regional and national sponsors, such as Meijer and McDonald’s. But most of its sponsorships are local.
Local companies “are our best option because they also have an investment in the community. They also want to succeed, Schmidt says. “And they know we’re all in this together.”
One local company, Burgan Real Estate, has sponsored YSU athletics for six years.
Patrick Burgan, broker and co-owner, says he began working with YSU because of his family history at the university and the effect it has in the community.
“I graduated from YSU. My whole family graduated from YSU. After leaving YSU, I wanted to stay connected and after seeing everything they’ve been doing for [Youngstown], I wanted to see how I could be involved from my corporate side of things,” Burgan says.
There are many valuable parts of being a corporate sponsor, Burgan says, both as a business owner and a community member.
“YSU is such a force in our area. [It] has been and will be. If I can attach my name to anything they’re doing, I see great value in it,” Burgan says.
Burgan Real Estate has signed three two-year contracts with YSU. He declined to provide annual expenditures except to allow it is one of YSU’s bigger sponsors.
Burgan has signage at Stambaugh Stadium and Beeghly Center and is also the official student section sponsor at the latter. In addition, the company has program ads and in-game announcements, and sponsors in-game giveaways.
Burgan says that the ability to customize sponsorship contracts is a benefit to working with the athletics department.
“If you have a budget in mind of what you want to spend, they’ll customize what you get in return. If you want a lot of logo recognition and marketing, you can get that,” Burgan says. “The other part of our sponsorship package [is] we have tables at the jamboree or the ring banquet, different things like that. And it also includes season tickets. So you can customize your package depending on what you want to do.”
Burgan said that being a corporate sponsor is about more than advertising. He says the athletics department has remained loyal to Burgan Real Estate and has referred customers to the company several times.
“Dollars and cents-wise, YSU is – I want to say – very loyal to their sponsors. There’s a lot of real estate companies in Youngstown and I’m sure people at YSU have personal relations with some of my competitors. But when it comes to staffing and hiring coaches, they’re very loyal to sending a referral our way,” Burgan says.
For Burgan, the return on investment includes the relationships he builds and the effect he has on his community. Along with attending events the athletics department holds, Burgan’s family and his team at Burgan Real Estate have been invited to travel with YSU teams to away games and host birthday parties with Pete the Penguin, the team mascot.
“What I wasn’t anticipating is probably the friendships that I’ve made over the years. We’ve been in business since 1977 and I’ve been here for over 17 years and we’ve always done some kind of sponsorship or donations. And [with that] you kind of write the check and then it’s done and over with,” Burgan says. “But at YSU, it’s so much more than that. It’s really become an extension of my family.”
Pictured at top: Patrick Burgan of Burgan Real Estate says his company has sponsored YSU athletics for six years.