Report: Indiana entering field-naming agreement with Merchants Bank for $50 million

Since 1971, Indiana football has referred to its home venue as Memorial Stadium. That will change somewhat this year. On Thursday, IndyStar‘s Zach Osterman reported Indiana is entering into a field-naming agreement with Merchants Bank and will be called Merchants Bank Field at Memorial Stadium moving forward.

“IndyStar understands Merchants Bank will pay Indiana $50 million over 20 years as part of the agreement,” Osterman wrote. “Exact terms, including the structure of payment across the life of that agreement, were not immediately available.

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“As part of the partnership, Merchants Bank Field at Memorial Stadium will be prominently displayed on the Memorial Stadium field beginning with IU’s 2025 home opener Aug. 30 against Old Dominion… IU spent a year exploring potential opportunities before settling on this partnership with Merchants Bank.”

In 2024, the NCAA approved rule changes, allowing on-field commercial sponsorships. Indiana isn’t the only program that’s taking advantage of this new revenue opportunity.

Earlier this week, Auburn football announced it had agreed to a sponsorship with YellaWood. In turn, Auburn’s field will feature two YellaWood logos on each side of the field this fall. YellaWood is paying Auburn somewhere between $2 million and $6 million per year for the sponsorship.

“We are profoundly grateful to Jimmy Rane and YellaWood for honoring Coach Dye and supporting Auburn Athletics in this innovative manner,” Auburn athletic director John Cohen said. “To Jimmy and to Auburn, this is so much more than a sponsorship agreement.”

There should be no shortage of eyes on Indiana football this year. In Curt Cignetti‘s debut campaign as Indiana’s head coach last season, he led the Hoosiers to an 11-2 record and the program’s first appearance in the College Football Playoff.

With a full offseason to build on that momentum, Indiana is expected to have another massively successful year. The Hoosiers are ranked No. 20 in the preseason AP Top 25. Now, the team must simply realize its potential.

“This year’s team has a lot of nice pieces, I would use that term pieces,” Cignetti said in July. “Now we’ve got to mold this group into a team. I like a lot of the parts. We’ve got to get them all thinking alike, all buying into the team vision.”

On Aug. 30, Indiana will kick off its 2025 season with a showdown against Old Dominion at 2:30 p.m. on Merchants Bank Field at Memorial Stadium. The game will air live on FS1.