Tennessee, Pilot entering long-term Neyland Stadium partnership

Tennessee Football’s iconic Neyland Stadium is getting a partner, but the historic venue is not getting a new name. 

Pilot and the University of Tennessee are entering a 20-year sponsorship agreement that will feature Pilot’s logo on Shields-Watkins Field as well as signage on the East Side of Neyland Stadium. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed. 

However, there is no renaming or title sponsor of Tennessee’s 103-year-old football stadium.

“As we navigate the changing landscape of college athletics, we are dedicated to building the best athletics department in the country,” Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Danny White said in a statement. “Because we were committed to preserving the name of Neyland Stadium, finding a partner who shared this vision was essential.

“With deep roots here in Knoxville, Pilot recognizes the significance of Neyland and the importance of tradition to our fans and the University. Our focus continues to preserve and honor our storied past while modernizing to ensure we lead the way in college sports.”

Pilot founder Jim Haslam played for General Robert Neyland, won national title with Vols

The partnership with Pilot is a natural fit. The company based in Knoxville was founded by Jim Haslam, who played for General Robert Neyland at Tennessee from 1948-1952, including winning a national championship in 1951. For Pilot to enter into the partnership, preserving the name of the field and the stadium was a must.

“It was just a non-starter for us,” Pilot CEO Adam Wright said on the thought of renaming the stadium. “Now, I did say having gone to the home opener last year and looking around, I did think that we could have a bigger presence at the stadium and start to really show in a tangible way our partnership with Tennessee, so it was important that our name be a little more prominent there. But as far as renaming the stadium or the field, that was a non-starter. As a matter of fact when I spoke with Adrienne, our chief marketing officer and others on the team, we see it as brand detracting. I think it would have been a colossal error in judgement. I think it would have been extremely dishonoring. We didn’t want to touch the field or the stadium name. We just wanted to make sure we had a more visible presence there again preserving the legacy and the iconic nature of the venue. That was always the thing for us.

“We think that General Neyland deserves, based on his service to our country and his coaching legacy, to have the stadium named after him as well as Shield-Watkins Field. We felt it was important to make a statement to the community that we are here and we are going to be here for a long time. Tennessee is important to us and we are important to the community. This gives us a chance to share our stories together.”

Tennessee AD Danny White: ‘I find myself as a caretaker to that iconic building every day’

White has made it clear since his arrival, the desire and need to be more successful in the corporate partnership world to try and limit the increased burden on fans financially as the cost of doing business continues to rise. White has also made it clear that in threading the needle of tradition and innovation, some things are untouchable. Neyland Stadium is one of them.

“In my conversations with Adam and his team, he got that from the very beginning,” White said. “Our conversations started about a year ago on this partnership. I find myself as a caretaker to that iconic building every day. Adam finds himself as a caretaker as well through their partnership to make sure we are threading that needle honoring our past and our tradition while also innovating for the future and the current day.

“Right now we are spending $337 million on that stadium and the vast majority, if not all, of that investment is for our fan experience. We cannot take the best fanbase in the country for granted. We need to continue to find ways to make our fan experience better and more comfortable for them. This partnership gives us a great opportunity to deliver on that.”

Tennessee-Pilot partnership ‘is more than just the stadium’

With an increased presence inside Neyland Stadium, White sees the possibility of continued growth in the partnership with the local iconic brand that’s nationwide in reach.

“This partnership is more than just the stadium,” White said. “It goes across all of our sports programs. As you know, the proposition to partner with Tennessee athletics is a 12 months out of the year proposition with the best fan base in all of sport. There’s a whole lot of other elements in it. Tradition elements, social stuff, but I think any healthy partnership and this one is extremely important to us is a living, breathing document.

“We are not saying these are all the things we are going to do and see you in 10-20 years. That’s not how we handle any of our partners. I expect as technology and fan behavior evolve there’s going to be all sorts of fun things that we will do together to benefit Pilot, Tennessee Athletics and our fan experience.”

For Pilot, which has undergone a change in leadership, the partnership is a reinforcement that Knoxville is home.

“It’s important because it’s our hometown,” Wright said. “It means a lot to the community. Our team members are rabid fans so it’s a huge morale lift and benefit for that. We have a new leadership team here at Pilot. One of the first questions I got when I came into this role is will Pilot continue to be a part of the community and support organizations and institutions that make it great. I would say yes, but this is a great opportunity for us to put action behind that. When I think of Tennessee and Danny (White) and the leadership team there and what they are creating with the vision for innovation and guest experiences with honoring the past and preparing for the future a lot of that is our same story.

“We are doing the same thing investing in our guest experiences. We are investing in our stores. We are using innovation. We are building off the past, preparing for the future. We have very similar stories and it’s very important for the community in this new era of college sports sponsorships with this being our hometown and Neyland being the historic and iconic name and venue that it is, we can step in and preserve it.”