UT reaches deal to place advertising in Cavs’ arena
James’ return sweetens move to draw students
8/21/20146084a8e1-3efe-4dde-ad67-23de688a9622Fans who watch LeBron James play in Cleveland this year might notice another familiar name: the University of Toledo.
The university will announce today a partnership with the Cleveland Cavaliers basketball team designed to attract more students from northeast Ohio.
“It’s clear that Cleveland is going to be one of the best teams in basketball this year and in the coming years and I can’t think of a better place for the Rocket Nation to be than in Quicken Loans Arena,” Larry Burns, the university’s vice president for external affairs, said in a statement.
Jon Strunk, a university spokesman, said the agreement was reached before Mr. James agreed to return to the Cavs after four seasons with the Miami Heat.
The partnership will include signage at Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena and in-game digital messaging. The agreement also includes an effort to support prostate cancer awareness.
UT has had similar partnerships with the Detroit Red Wings hockey team and Detroit Tigers baseball team for several years. It has recently begun a partnership with the Detroit Lions football team. It also started an agreement with the Cleveland Indians baseball team earlier this year.
Mr. Burns said the number of UT students from southeast Michigan has doubled in the eight years since the university started advertising with the Detroit teams.
In addition to helping attract students to UT, Mr. Burns said the university hopes its relationship with the Cavaliers will help it connect with businesses in the Cleveland area that might provide internships for UT students.