Toyota made a power move when it partnered with ESPN Events on the bookends of the HBCU football season, connecting with Black college properties package culture, audience and business value.
The three-year agreement makes Toyota the presenting sponsor of the Cricket MEAC/SWAC Challenge Kick-Off and the Cricket Celebration Bowl. It also brings Toyota into Red Lobster Band of the Year, one of the most visible band culture platforms in the HBCU space. But the partnership did not happen quickly.
John T. Grant, executive director of ESPN Events, told HBCU Gameday that the relationship was built over time. The goal was not just to get Toyota on signage. It was to show the company why the HBCU audience, ESPN reach and Toyota’s business goals could work together.
“This has been a process in the making over probably two or three years in conversations with them,” Grant said. “We brought them into our games and into the events so they could actually see and feel it.”
Toyota found value in the partnership
For ESPN Events, the pitch to Toyota was never just about one football game.
The Cricket MEAC/SWAC Challenge Kick-Off opens the HBCU football season. The Cricket Celebration Bowl closes it with a championship stage. Red Lobster Band of the Year stretches across the season and touches schools, alumni, students and fans from multiple HBCU conferences.
Grant said ESPN Events worked to understand what Toyota needed from the partnership.
“The strategy for us, whether it’s with Toyota or every partner, is learning what creates value and helps them meet their overall objectives for their business,” Grant said.
HBCU culture has always had value. ESPN Events had to show Toyota how that value could be packaged, measured and extended across several months.
“We had a lot of conversations around that,” Grant said. “Then we were able to package the assets that we have across all three of our platforms to create the scale necessary to help deliver on the KPIs they were looking for.”
ESPN Events created a longer runway
Toyota was not new to the HBCU space, according to Grant. That meant ESPN Events had to offer something more comprehensive than basic access to Black college sports fans.
“The key driver for us wasn’t as much that, although that is a part of it,” Grant said. “They were looking for something in the relationship with us that was much more comprehensive than the events themselves as standalones.”
That is where the runway came into play.
Toyota can connect with HBCU audiences before the season, during the season and after the Celebration Bowl. ESPN gives the partnership national visibility. Red Lobster Band of the Year adds band culture, music and school pride.
“We were really looking for scale,” Grant said. “Scale included the length of time, so the fact that they could kick off the season starting around Media Day and go all the way through the close of the season.”
For ESPN Events, the season does not simply end when the Celebration Bowl clock hits zero. The media wrap-up matters. The social media conversation and digital references pile up.
That is part of what Toyota bought.
HBCU have to show why culture is business
The Toyota partnership also shows why HBCU culture should not be treated as a side dish. Bands, alumni, football, television and digital conversation are all part of the product. ESPN Events packaged them together.
“The biggest part of the value is the reach of the properties relative to on-air with both games,” Grant said.
That reach became even stronger with Red Lobster Band of the Year.
“The reason Red Lobster Band of the Year fits there is that you’re talking about season-long engagement that includes schools from all four conferences,” Grant said. “There was a way for Toyota, through one avenue, with us putting a strategy together, to reach fans, alumni, supporters and students across all of those institutions through one place.”
That is the lesson for other HBCU entities: Do not sell only a game. Sell the full ecosystem.
Toyota did not just get football. Toyota got the opening weekend, the championship, the bands, the students, the alumni, the fans and the media conversation around all of it.
“Music is a key driver of unity that brings a lot of people together, and that’s a space Toyota was already in,” Grant said.
ESPN Events built a business case
Grant was direct when asked what HBCU institutions and related properties can learn from the deal.
“You have to study and be aware of what’s happening as it relates to the current market,” Grant said.
That current market requires more than mission language. It requires a business case.
“I’ll use Toyota as an example,” Grant said. “They’re a big brand that sponsors big events. They know what to expect. They know what they want, and they know what the value proposition is.”
HBCU institutions and events often have the audience, culture and loyalty brands want. But Grant said the challenge is how those assets are presented.
“Brands today are looking for something different than what our HBCUs are offering,” Grant said. “Not that we don’t have it. We do have it. They’re just presenting it in a way that doesn’t really help make the business case that the people making the decisions need to make.”
That may be the biggest takeaway. Companies need to justify spending. They need data, outcomes and a clear connection between sponsorship and business goals.
“Everybody has to report to someone, and everybody has to justify the dollars they spend or invest,” Grant said. “Being able to understand what is needed to quantify and justify the investment is the difference-maker.”
A lesson in partnership
Grant said the old appeal of supporting HBCUs because it is the right thing to do still has some value. But he also said that value is not enough by itself.
“The idea today of ‘invest in us because it’s the right thing to do’ has some value, but I think that’s a diminishing return,” Grant said. “Toyota is in the business of selling cars. That’s what they do.”
That does not diminish the importance of HBCU institutions. It makes the pitch sharper.
“What we’re looking at is: how can we help you sell cars?” Grant said.
ESPN Events can answer that question with audience, reach and data. Grant said the Celebration Bowl platform generates more than two billion total impressions across television, digital and other channels.
“We’re pulling every mention, every story, every digital reference, social and otherwise, all the way through the year,” Grant said. “That platform generated a little over two billion total impressions.”
That is not just a number. It is a sales tool.
The HBCU, ESPN and Toyota partnership worked because the value was not left abstract. It was cultivated, packaged and measured.
For other HBCU-related properties, the message is clear. The culture is already powerful. The next step is proving the business case.