Miami named official university of the Cincinnati Bengals

On March 26, Miami University partnered with the Cincinnati Bengals NFL team in an educational partnership for internships, job shadowing, on-campus speakers and other opportunities.

President Gregory Crawford met with Mike Brown, the owner of the Bengals, to complete the agreement at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati, making Miami the “official university” of the Bengals.

“This partnership is an excellent way to honor the legacy of Paul Brown, a legacy that has united the Cincinnati Bengals and Miami University for years,” Crawford said in the campus announcement on Wednesday. “We are extremely excited for Miami students to benefit from this unique relationship, and for them to add value to a first-rate NFL organization like the Bengals.”

Paul Brown, the founder and original namesake for the Bengals’ stadium, graduated from Miami in 1930 and is an original member of the Cradle of Coaches.

Brown played quarterback for the RedHawks football team until he graduated. He returned to collegiate football as a coach for The Ohio State University Buckeyes in 1940, before leading them to their first national championship the following year.

He jumped to professional football as the first head coach of the newly-created Cleveland Browns in 1946. After an argument with Browns owner Art Modell in 1962, he left and formed the Cincinnati Bengals, who originally played in Paul Brown Stadium, in 1967. By the end of his coaching career, Brown accumulated 338 wins, 127 losses and 15 ties.

Miami’s new partnership with the Bengals reconnects the original owner with his alma mater.

Ande Durojaiye, Miami’s vice president for strategy and partnerships, said the root of this project came from Miami’s goal to build a stronger partnership with the city of Cincinnati, and by extension, the Bengals.

By growing the university’s connection with the city, Miami creates a direct channel between the large alumni base living in Cincinnati and Miami’s current students, a relationship that Durojaiye said he thinks needs to continue to be built upon.

“We want to make sure that our city continues to grow,” Durojaiye said. “We think … no, we know that a partnership with [Cincinnati] always grants that effort, and with that, we’re really committed to building talent pipelines for our students.”

Durojaiye said that the project is still in its early planning stages, and students will likely not begin to see its effects for the next few months. However, when the project reaches its final stages of development, it will become visible to students through organized platforms for students to connect with the Bengals for jobs, internships and more.

Melissa Chase, the chair of the Department of Sports Leadership and Management, said that these opportunities included working directly with the Bengals for internships and projects, as well as having Bengals employees speaking to students about their career.

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“It’s such a high quality organization,” Chase said. “Our students are prepared to do actually all aspects of game day operations, communication, management and analytics. We think it’s a great opportunity for the Bengals to have some high quality students volunteer and work with them, but also it’s so important for our students to have the opportunity to do internships and to prepare for the careers that they’re looking for.”

From this partnership, Miami will also be featured on the team’s website and app, as well as within Paycor Stadium through sideline LED corner signage, red zone sponsorship and on the more than 1,600 TVs positioned throughout the stadium, according to the campus announcement.

“When the Bengals enter the red zone, there’s an overlay on the video board that says, ‘Miami University,’ and the red zone is colored red,” said Nate Jorgensen, the senior director of marketing. “I actually went to one of the first games that our stuff was at last year, and I heard people saying, ‘Wow, look, Miami University is up there.’”

The university will also have radio and TV advertisements. During the Cincinnati radio broadcast, fans will hear broadcasters Dan Hoard and Dave Lapham announce that the Bengals have “entered the Miami University Redzone.”

The partnership also gives Miami the ability to use Paycor Stadium for university events, social media post sponsorship, brand alignment opportunities and more.

Five months remain until the start of the NFL season, but the university will stay hard at work to prepare all marketing materials and iron out the details of the student opportunities.

“We worked really hard and have a lot of hard-working people who are really dedicated to the university,” Jorgensen said. “We’ll look and try to make everything as good as it can be by the time that first preseason game comes along.”

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