Indiana poised for whopping $50 million boost after latest agreement

Indiana's field has a new name and the Hoosier athletic department stands to be several million dollars richer as a result. The Hoosiers have inked a field-naming agreement with Merchants Bank. Under the agreement the field will be renamed Merchants Bank Field at Memorial Stadium. Terms of the deal purportedly include payment of $50 million by the Bank to IU, according to IndyStar's Zach Osterman.

New stream of revenue for the Big Ten

Indiana's announcement follows a league-wide pattern of these types of on-field sponsorships for Big Ten teams. While historically, prominent on-field sponsorship displays were frowned upon, the conference has apparently loosened the reigns on that issue. Penn State and Washington each signed similar field-sponsorship deals recently that involve similar field-naming and on-field displays.

Meanwhile, Merchant's Bank isn't exactly a new partner with Indiana, as they have inked NIL deals with Hoosier basketball players in the past for some of the top Hoosiers to serve as "brand ambassadors" for the bank. However, this move to a larger-scale institutional sponsorship is a new one... and one that probably reflects Indiana's improved standing overall in college football circles.

Hoosier Football Revival

It seems unlikely that Merchant's Bank or other big-name sponsors would have lined up to pay an eight-figure amount to sponsor the Hoosier home field if not for the massive recent uptick in Indiana's football fortunes. To call the Hoosiers the downtrodden program of the Big Ten is probably a safe understatement.

Indiana has not won the Big Ten since 1967. The Hoosiers last won a bowl game in 1991. Tom Allen posted winning marks in league play in 2019 and 2020 for the Hoosiers, which represented their first winning mark in Big Ten play since 1993.

But after Allen's success, Indiana fell to 2-10, 4-8 and 3-9 to end his run as the Hoosier head coach. The program seemed to have slid deeply back into mediocrity, with a 3-24 Big Ten record over Allen's final three seasons.

Enter Curt Cignetti, the former James Madison head coach, who delivered a shocking 2024 season. Indiana was picked to finish 17th in the 18-team Big Ten's preseason 2024 media poll. But Cignetti's high-scoring offense, led by QB Kurtis Rourke, led IU to a 10-0 start including a win over Michigan on a Saturday when the school hosted ESPN Game Day.

A CFP loss to Notre Dame left the Hoosiers at 11-2 for the year, but also placed the Hoosiers higher atop college football's pecking order than in recent memory. While those wins paid off on the field, the Merchant's Bank deal makes clear they're also paying off in the sponsorship and NIL arena.