Fifth Third Bank and KSU entered into a $5 million, 10-year agreement in February, making it the largest sponsorship in the university’s history.
Fifth Third’s financial contribution is set to go toward projects in the athletic department and improvements around campus as well as the startup of KSU’s football program.
As part of the agreement, Fifth Third Bank has been given naming rights to KSU’s stadium and various advertising and recognition privileges throughout the university.
Fifth Third Bank’s logo, facilities and ATMs can be found around campus. According to Alvin Barba, the director of Athletics Communications, “Part of the sponsorship agreement [with the bank] included signage, ATMs throughout the campus and the naming rights to the stadium.”
The school’s partnership with the bank has also prompted new KSU IDs for all students, faculty and staff. The new IDs, which double as Fifth Third bank cards, have two stripes on the back, one for campus-related transactions and the other for banking transactions.
The growing number of Fifth Third Bank equipment around campus has not gone unnoticed by students.
Sophomore Biology major Kelsey Line said the change may be good.
“It will be really convenient for students who use the bank,” Line said, noting how the number of Fifth Third Bank ATMs has grown since she started at KSU last year.
“Maybe more students will transfer to Fifth Third Bank now that it will be so convenient around campus,” said Angela Demarco, a sophomore studying Biology.
Other students are not such fans of the partnership.
Junior Carl Duperval said he does not know much about Fifth Third Bank, but finds the sudden influx of the bank’s equipment to be “overwhelming and feels like [KSU] may be pushing the bank on [the students].”
Jordan Williams, a sophomore studying Communication, said he thinks the deal is “awesome and convenient.”
The partnership has been called beneficial for both the bank and the university. Fifth Third is relatively new to Georgia, having entered the state market in 2008. The partnership with KSU should prove helpful in the bank’s expansion.
“Our expanded relationship with Kennesaw State University reflects our plans to continue growing in Cobb County, the broader Atlanta metro area and throughout the state while supporting our communities and building our brand,” Jennifer Castanet, marketing director for Fifth Third Bank
in Georgia said in a February news release announcing the university’s partnership with the bank.
Although Fifth Third Bank is the official bank of KSU Athletics and the largest executive agreement the department has had to date, Barba said the Department of Athletics “hopes to finalize other major sponsorships in the near future.”
Details about the other sizable sponsorships have not been released, but the arrangement between KSU and Fifth Third Bank has given the football program its start, which is expected to transform the culture of the university.
