It’s been a big year at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, home of the University of Texas Longhorns football team, from a new video board to a swanky new Ricoh Stadium Club.
Ricoh recently announced its sponsorship of the Ricoh Stadium Club, marking the latest expansion of a 20-plus-year partnership in the University’s digital transformation across the campus. [related]
The partnership “enables Ricoh to connect to Texas fans with in-venue signage, social media, various messaging opportunities and exclusive VIP hospitality events,” according to the Rich announcement.
IMG College is the exclusive multimedia rights holder and sponsorship sales agent of Texas Athletics and also represents the Texas Performing Arts and the Texas Exes alumni association.
As part of this agreement, Ricoh becomes the Proud Workplace Technology Provider of Texas Performing Arts and the Texas Exes, and the company is the presenting sponsor of the Texas Exes’ Alcalde|Docs web series.
“Ricoh’s team has become an integral part of the campus community,” said Texas Athletics senior associate AD for business services Michael Bos.
The McCombs Red Zone at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, where the production center is located, is an 18,000-square-foot space for meeting, dining and relaxing with plenty of seating and free wifi.
There’s lots of student, faculty and alumni traffic throughout the academic year, especially on football game days. During the week, the McCombs Red Zone area is open to the public.
“Eyes all around the country and the world gravitate to the storied University of Texas and Texas Athletics,” said Renaud Rodrigue, partner executive for client strategy at Ricoh USA.
“That really puts the pressure on us to help ensure branding, messaging and quality are exactly right, every time. We’re proud to partner with the University of Texas and Texas Athletics, and we’re excited for this new opportunity to further expand our relationship.”
Other Benefits of the Ricoh Stadium Club
Texas Athletics’ printing costs led Ricoh to suggest that the department open its own print center, where it could produce playbooks and promotional materials, among other collateral, on site for a fraction of the cost.
“Ricoh has been great to work with,” said men’s athletic director Mike Perrin in the press release. “They have treated us as a collaborative partner. They wanted to know our concerns and what we want to accomplish. From there, they worked with us to develop and implement solutions.”
The long-term collaboration between Ricoh and the university has saved about 30 percent in output costs and brought nearly $1 million in previously outsourced printing costs in-house.
The Ricoh partnership with the University of Texas began with a 19-device departmental effort aimed at streamlining device utilization and cutting costs. When university officials saved more than 25 percent on that effort, they then sought to engage Ricoh’s services team to work with other departments, including Texas Athletics.
Today, Ricoh’s efforts affects more than 1,000 university devices across various departments.
