DATCU deal will bring far more cash for UNT athletics than prior deal with Apogee
Staff Writer Aug 2, 2023 Updated 1 hr ago North Texas will have a little more to work with financially starting this fall and in the years to come after finalizing a naming rights agreement with DATCU for its football stadium. UNT and the local credit union announced this week they had signed off on the deal that will brand the venue DATCU Stadium. UNT and DATCU officials confirmed to the Denton Record-Chronicle following a naming right celebration on Tuesday that the agreement is for $21.
5 million over 15 years. The Record-Chronicle obtained a copy of the contract through an open records request late Tuesday night that provides insight into how the deal will help bolster UNT’s bottom line. UNT will receive a one-time signing fee of $500,000 within 30 days of July 28, the date the deal went into effect.
The school will also receive a yearly payment in September of each year. Those payments start at $1. 3 million this year.
The fee jumps to $1. 4 million in the third year of the deal before moving to $1. 5 million for the final two years in 2036 and 2037.
“When you look at the landscape of these deals, we feel like we landed in a good spot,” UNT athletic director Jared Mosley said. “Having a 15-year deal will help us grow into the American Athletic Conference and build new revenue streams. ” UNT joined the American this summer after spending a decade in Conference USA.
The deal differs significantly from UNT’s previous naming rights agreement with Apogee, an Austin-based telecommunications company. UNT’s deal with DATCU is for cash. UNT received services from Apogee as part of a 20-year, $20 million deal.
The cash value of the contract for the 2023-24 school year was scheduled to be $627,805, according to figures provided by UNT. The school will receive more than double that from DATCU in the first year of the agreement. UNT was set to receive $1 million from Apogee in the final three years of the deal that was set to end in the 2030-31 school year.
The school will now bring in $1. 4 million in those years from DATCU. While the stadium naming rights are the headliner of the deal, there are several other aspects of the arrangement that make it valuable to DATCU.
“The contract is not just for athletics and includes several other opportunities,” DATCU president Melanie Vest said. “We are an employer in this community and can build relationships with the next generation of experts. We will be heavily involved with UNT students.
” DATCU will have a strong presence across campus. The credit union’s logo will be placed on the side of the football stadium, a highly desirable location for advertising near the juncture of the East and West branches of Interstate 35. And that’s just for starters.
DATCU’s logo will also be placed in several spots inside the stadium, the Super Pit and in the school’s soccer/track, softball, tennis and volleyball venues. DATCU will also be recognized as the official credit union of UNT athletics and can also refer to itself as an “official corporate sponsor of UNT athletics. ” UNT will host a dedication ceremony during a game this fall at DATCU Stadium.
The partnership is one DATCU and UNT officials believe will benefit both parties, which have a relationship that dates back decades. In the 1930s, V. Y.
Craig and Ross Compton, professors at what was then known as North Texas State College, joined with 11 other educators to pool $650 and establish Denton County Teachers Federal Credit Union. The business has grown to include more than 100,000 members with assets in excess of $1. 5 billion.
The credit union serves 11 counties, mostly in North Texas near UNT. “We are excited about this partnership,” DATCU CEO Glen McKenzie said. “We feel it represents what is best about North Texas.
It demonstrates how two local entities can come together to form a bond that elevates all of us. ” .