A new day is here for Florida Atlantic athletics, as for the first time ever the football stadium will have a naming rights sponsor. The University has agreed to a multi-year deal with Flagler Credit Union to officially rename FAU Stadium to Flagler Credit Union Stadium, sources confirm to FAU Owls Nest. The Board of Trustees is expected to approve the matter in a special session on Tuesday.
The Credit Union, which has been incorporated in Florida since 1999, has agreed to a 15 year deal with FAU for naming rights of what was formerly known as FAU Stadium and it will pay $22.5 Million over the course of the deal. The stadium will debut Flagler Credit Union signage in locations to be determined, and should be ready by the beginning of next season (photo above for illustration purposes only)
Flagler Credit Union has been active in the South Florida community for over 2 decades and has locations from North Palm Beach to Boca Raton. In 2023, Flagler Bank was acquired by Dort Financial, a Michigan based credit union which boasts $2 Billion in assets across its 15 locations in Michigan and Florida.
This is the first official naming rights sponsor in FAU stadium history and it comes at a pivotal time in the NIL era where funding from any source can prove fruitful. In 2013, Florida Atlantic briefly agreed to a 12 year $6 million with Geo Group, a Boca Raton based security company, however the deal fell through after objections from the local community and the stadium has remained unnamed ever since.
The value of FAU stadium has tripled in the 11 years since that potential deal fell through and now the University has found a partner willing to invest that is looking to grow alongside the program. Flagler Credit Union was formerly known as Flagler Bank just a year ago, now merged with Dort Financial, they look to continue to grow alongside FAU, as both brands could benefit from this partnership.
FAU will prove to benefit immensely from this partnership, pivoting from no stadium naming revenue to $1.5 Million per year over the next 15 years while providing a major boost to their athletic department. A naming rights deal of this caliber would provide a boost to any Athletic Department in the Group-of-Five, as FAU now owns the second richest naming rights deal in the G5, only trailing San Diego State’s 15 year $45 Million deal with Qualcomm Technologies.
In the AAC, FAU will have the largest overall valued agreement. UAB has a 15 year deal worth $15 million, and North Texas has a 15 year deal worth $21.5 million. Memphis has a 10 year agreement worth $6.8 million. The AAC is an extremely forward moving conference, as commissioner Tim Pernetti has mentioned the importance of outside sponsors numerous times and this move helps FAU compete with some teams who may have an advantage in overall revenue.
College athletics continues to change each day, but one thing that remains paramount is money and a deal like this gives FAU an easy outlet to funding which will improve total revenue and in turn improve NIL as revenue sharing takes center stage in 2025-2026. FAU president Stacy Volnick and AD Brian White have had a forward thinking approach during their combined tenure and this move is one that aligns with a future that will see outside funding become more important as time goes on.
