Pitbull Buys Naming Rights to Football Stadium in Florida

Pitbull has led a long career as one of the most successful Latin music artists in the U.S. Born Armando Christian Pérez in Miami to Cuban parents, Pitbull has released 12 albums since 2004 and is known for hits including “I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)”, “Give Me Everything,” and ““Feel This Moment” featuring Christina Aguilera. Now he’s turning his sights to new business ventures while also supporting education, a cause he’s been a long-time advocate for. On Tuesday, Miami’s Florida International University announced that he had purchased the rights to their football stadium, currently known as the Riccardo Silva (FIU) Stadium. In a five-year deal with Pitbull, the school will ceremoniously rename the stadium to Pitbull Stadium. The stadium is home to the FIU Panthers football team and the Miami FC soccer team from the USL Championship.

In exchange, the singer will pay the school $1.2 million each year for the five years, at which point it can be renewed for five additional years. Once the sponsorship goes into effect, FIU will become the first university in the U.S. to have a college athletics facility named after a successful musician, according to ESPN.

“What we’re doing here is groundbreaking. We’re making history. This is history in the making,” Pitbull said in a statement. “You’re going to see that every other university is going to want to do the same thing. But the difference is, we don’t do this for propaganda, we do it from the heart. We do it because it’s meaningful. We do it because I’m from the crib. I’m 305. I’m from the bottom. This is my backyard.”

As a life-long Florida resident known for repping Miami (area code 305), this is especially significant for the 43-year-old. He attended Miami Coral Park High School and gave himself the nickname “Mr. 305” which he’s carried on into his music career. He frequently references his cultural heritage, mixing Spanish phrases like “Dalé” into his raps. He’s also known for giving back to his community through philanthropic efforts, creating the nonprofit SLAM! providing K-12 tuition-free, public charter schools in underrepresented communities across the U.S. including Florida, with funding. Under the organization, he opened his first school in Miami in 2012. Today, the organization serves over 7,000 students across in 14 schools in Florida, Nevada, Georgia and Arizona.

Originally built in 1995, the FIU Stadium seats 20,000 people. As part of Pitbull’s current deal with FIU, he will be contractually obligated to create a new anthem for the university that will be played at every sports event, post about them on his social media account 12 times a year, and attend one fundraising event per year for a minimum of three hours to raise money for the athletics program. In exchange, he will be able to use the stadium 10 times a year without paying a rental fee, have vodka from his spirits business Voli 305 sold as the preferred brand at games, and have two reserved suites in the stadium for every home game. He will also be named the “Official Entrepreneur of FIU Athletics” and play a role in the stadium’s marketing and branding.

“This is a historic day for FIU athletics to uniquely partner with a world-renowned artist and amazing person who truly values relationships and his community,” said FIU athletic director Scott Carr. “Armando’s financial support is program-changing, but him providing a microphone to amplify FIU will be even more beneficial to growing our brand. I couldn’t be more excited about our partnership as this will take us to another level. We can now officially say: ‘Paws Up, Dale!’”

The first game to be played in the newly named Pitbull Stadium will on September 7.