Back to School: Rocket Mortgage Extends College Athletic Program Partnerships to Now Include 25 Premier Universities Across the Nation
Rocket Mortgage, the largest mortgage lender in the U.S., announced expanded partnerships with 25 prestigious collegiate athletic programs, including four elite HBCUs. This initiative aims to enhance brand visibility through signage and promotions at events. During 2019, college sports reached 145 million TV viewers and over 47.5 million game attendees, bolstering Rocket's marketing strategy. The partnerships will commence in the 2021-2022 season, alongside new commercials featuring Kirk Herbstreit. Rocket Mortgage aims to support communities of color and address the racial homeownership gap through these collaborations.
- Expansion of partnerships with 25 major athletic programs enhances brand visibility.
- Targeted outreach to HBCUs like Howard and Jackson State fosters community engagement.
- Strong market presence expected due to vast audience reach in college sports.
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DETROIT, Sept. 8, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Detroit-based Rocket Mortgage, the nation's largest mortgage lender and a part of Rocket Companies (NYSE: RKT), today announced it will have unmatched brand visibility on college campuses through new and expanded multi-year partnerships with 25 of the most influential and prestigious athletic programs in the United States, including four elite Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).
College athletics' reach is far and wide. The TV-visible, high impact signage and social media opportunities from these relationships will provide significant value for the Rocket Mortgage brand. In 2019 alone (the last time all universities had people in stands), 145 million fans watched college football games on TV and streaming services, in addition to the more than 47.5 million individuals who attended games in stadiums across the country, according to the National Football Federation.
"College sports have truly amazing fans with deep passion and loyalty for their schools and the companies that support them," said Casey Hurbis, Chief Marketing Officer of Rock Central - the marketing provider for Rocket Mortgage. "We have a history of bringing these partnerships to life in fun and approachable ways, including giving colleges mascots a leading role in our commercials. This expansion of our presence with a nationwide group of universities provides us the perfect avenue to build on that legacy and develop the next best engaging sports campaign."
The full list of university athletic departments includes:
- University of Alabama
- University of Arizona
- Clemson University
- University of Colorado
- Duke University
- University of Florida
- Florida State University
- University of Georgia
- Grambling State University
- Howard University
- Jackson State University
- University of Kansas
- University of Michigan
- Michigan State University
- University of North Carolina
- Ohio State University
- University of Oregon
- Penn State University
- Southern University
- University of Texas
- Texas Christian University
- University of Southern California
- Virginia Tech
- University of Washington
- University of Wisconsin
Rocket Mortgage-branded signage will begin appearing at these colleges' home stadiums, arenas and campuses at the start of the 2021-2022 fall season. The group of schools represent perennial contenders in some of the most competitive sports across the power five conferences. There are an impressive 83 national football titles and 23 basketball tournament championships shared between the universities now partnered with Rocket Mortgage.
As part of this partnership, Rocket Mortgage expanded its presence on HBCU campuses, adding Howard University and Jackson State University to its relationship portfolio. Previous partners, Southern University and Grambling State University, extended their partnerships with the nation's largest mortgage lender after working together for two years. Beyond these sponsorships, Rocket Mortgage has ongoing initiatives and programs that aim to boost its presence and support in communities of color throughout the country, with a goal of creating systemic change in both the racial homeownership gap and talent pipelines. These relationships with some of the largest HBCUs in the nation bolster those efforts.
Additionally, Rocket Mortgage's new college football-themed commercials, which started airing on Monday, August 30, features Kirk Herbstreit – the Emmy award-winning college football analyst and former quarterback and captain of the Ohio State University, which recently initiated a relationship with the company.
These college relationships were brought to life through the schools' respective athletics multimedia rightsholders, including LEARFIELD and PlayFly Sports.
About Rocket Mortgage
Detroit-based Rocket Mortgage, the nation's largest home mortgage lender, enables the American Dream of homeownership and financial freedom through its obsession with innovating an industry-leading, digital-driven client experience. Rocket Mortgage closed
Rocket Mortgage moved its headquarters to downtown Detroit in 2010. Today, Rocket Mortgage and Rocket Companies employ 24,000 full-time team members nationwide. The company generates loan production from web centers located in Detroit, Cleveland and Phoenix and operates a centralized loan processing facility in Detroit. Rocket Mortgage ranked highest in the country for customer satisfaction for primary mortgage origination by J.D. Power for the past 11 consecutive years, 2010 – 2020, and also ranked highest in the country for customer satisfaction among all mortgage servicers the past eight years, 2014 – 2021.
Rocket Companies, Rocket Mortgage's parent company, ranked #5 on Fortune's list of the "100 Best Companies to Work For" in 2021 and has placed in the top third of the list for 18 consecutive years.
For more information and company news visit PressRoom.RocketMortgage.com.
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SOURCE Rocket Mortgage
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