Southwest Airlines named official airline of Southeastern Conference

The SEC is preparing to take off for their upcoming athletic year in ’24-’25. Now, Southwest Airlines will exclusively be helping them to do that.

Per a press release on Thursday, Southwest is now the official airline of the Southeastern Conference. The deal with the league and its television network officially started at the beginning of July.

“Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) today announces a new, multi-year sponsorship agreement with the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and SEC Network to be the ‘Official Airline of the SEC'” the release read. “The deal—officially launched on July 1—will primarily highlight the athletic contributions to SEC football, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball, softball, gymnastics, and women’s soccer.”

Both sides of the new partnership shared statements as part of the release today.

“Southwest Airlines is proud to be joining the SEC roster as the airline of choice and getting sports fanatics to their favorite games with ease,” said Jennifer Bridie, Southwest’s VP of Marketing Communications & Strategy. “SEC fans have been flying with us for decades, checking two free bags of gear, rescheduling road games without fees, and saving flight credits for the year their team finally makes it to the championship. With this unique sponsorship, we’re giving fans more flexibility to join the action as they root for their favorite teams and bringing them new opportunities throughout the season to get to know the Southwest Brand even better.”

“The SEC is pleased Southwest Airlines has joined our official sponsor program,” added Commissioner Greg Sankey. “The SEC sponsor program is important to the mission of supporting our now 16 institutions and Southwest Airlines makes stronger an already robust family of sponsors for the Conference. We look forward to Southwest Airlines’ participation in our programming and championship events.”

As part of this deal, Southwest will integrate onto the SEC Network, including SEC Nation. Marty Smith will be a feature in the company’s social media campaign within this as well. The first ad for it has already dropped today as part of the announcement.

Southwest will also have a presence at the SEC Championship along with the SEC Tournaments. That will include activations at championship events within the conference.

This comes falling the announcement of Southwest’s involvement in this upcoming season in college football. The airline had already provided more flights and services surrounding certain marquee games on this year’s schedule. They will also air select games and offer pop-up activations during flights.

Southeast and Southwest are on opposite sides of the compass. However, when it comes to college sports, they now couldn’t be more aligned following the announcement today.