Bengals, Paycor unveil sponsorship competition for local small minority-owned businesses
CINICNNATI (WKRC) - Paycor knows firsthand about the business benefits that come from teaming up with one of the NFL’s hottest teams.
“When Evan McPherson kicks the game winning field goal, and your brand is highlighted in the stadium behind the ball as it’s kicked, that goes national and it’s really hard to quantify,” said Adam Ante, Paycor’s chief financial officer.
Last year, the HR software company struck a historic naming rights deal for the Bengals stadium.
This year, Paycor wants to help another local business grow it’s reach using football - for free.
“The sponsorship package at Paycor Stadium is going to be pretty interesting, lots of marketing assets, signage, tickets. There’s going to be a lot of that branding that’s going to show up on game day,” said Ante.
Small minority-owned businesses are the focus of the 'Earn Your Stripes' contest.
“Entrepreneurs and small businesses already have a really tough time getting started, there’s a lot of hurdles they run into. Minority-owned businesses have those hurdles, and on top of that, they struggle with fundraising and capital raising,” said Ante.
Bengals Chief Financial Officer John Helmle said this is a minimum six-figure prize for the winning business.
“All-in-all, we feel like this could be very transformative for the winning business, in terms of changing their business forever,” said Helmle.
A big opportunity for a small business.
“Our desire through this naming right deal was to give back to the community, our foundation was built on innovation, entrepreneurship, and hard work by our founder Paul Brown over 50 years ago, and that’s in the spirit of everything we do to this day,” said Helmle.
Small minority-owned businesses can apply for the Earn Your Stripes sponsorship through May 17.
A select number of finalists will be invited to a 'pitch-fest' style competition at Paycor Stadium in early June, where the contest winner will be chosen.
