Amerant Bank

According to Amerant Bancorp President and CEO Jerry Plush, the company had an “identity crisis” when it arrived in February 2021.

Founded in 1979 as a subsidiary of Venezuela-based Mercantil Servicios Financieros, Coral Gables, Florida-based Amerant was spun off as an independent bank in August 2018. announcing rebranding plans a few months later. By 2021, it had a new name, Amerant, but still lacked name recognition, Plush said.

“We told people we were the best kept secret in South Florida — which for a bank is not a good thing,” Plush said in an interview. “You’re in a business where awareness is a big part of the game.”

For Plush, in the end, the solution proved simple: partnering with South Florida sports franchises. Many of them. “I took advantage of this appearance. We felt aligning with strong brands would significantly increase our brand awareness.”

Banks, of course, are active in sports partnerships. In an April 2024 report, Sponsor United, a firm that provides sports marketing data and insights, said financial brands “have come to consistently dominate” the stadium naming rights segment, accounting for about 35 percent of deals.

The trend shows no sign of slowing down. In September, the $201 billion Huntington Bancshares of Columbus, Ohio, inked a 20-year deal to put its name on the Cleveland Browns’ stadium. The $4.7 billion-asset Northwest Federal Credit Union, based in Herndon, Virginia captured the naming rights for the Washington Commanders stadium. Both franchises play in the National Football League, the most popular sports league in the US by audience.

Although Amerant, which is worth $10.4 billion, has yet to establish a soccer partnership, it is well represented in Major League Baseball, with ties to both the Tampa Rays and Miami Marlins. Amerant is also the official bank of the National Basketball Association’s Miami Heat. In the National Hockey League, Amerant owns the naming rights to the home venue of the Florida Panthers, Amerant Bank Arena. It also serves as the official bank of the Panthers.

Amerant’s newest partnership, announced in August, is with Fort Lauderdale United FC. Amerant serves as the official bank of Fort Lauderdale United, South Florida’s only professional women’s soccer team.

Few banks of Amerant’s size have so many relationships with major sports teams. Plush admitted to being labeled “sports crazy” but added that there was a clear strategy behind the whole activity.

“We have the halo effect of being able to align with these organizations that resonate across the state,” Plush said. “We are fortunate to have a great relationship with the two baseball teams in the state. We have naming rights to one of the 30 arenas (National Hockey League). The see-and-be-seen crowd that goes to Amerant. Lounge and the whole Amerant brand where the Heat play — it’s the same at the Amerant Vault at Amerant Bank Arena — People see it as a commitment to Florida.”

Amerant has grown its assets by 37% since the end of 2020, increasing its share of the $330 billion Miami warehouse market from 1.98% to 2.2% over the same period. Plush is convinced that Amerant’s sports partnerships have played a tremendous role in its growth.

“There’s no question,” Plushs said. “The awareness alone was worth it.”

While the impact of sports partnerships can be difficult to quantify, they “get (the partner’s) name out there and create top visibility,” Matthew A. Gilbert, a marketing professor at Coastal Carolina University in Conway, South Carolina, said in a interview. “This is an important goal of marketing.”

“People will trust a brand they don’t know if they’ve heard of it,” Gilbert said. “That’s a benefit of sponsoring a stadium or partnering with an athletic team…When you have your name on a building or partner with an athlete, your name is there.”

Beyond name recognition, sports partnerships have been a fertile source of referrals and business development. “I can tell you, I go to a Panthers game, I go to a Heat game, there’s not a game that I walk out of that I haven’t handed out a lot of business cards or connected my iPhone to the iPhone- someone’s,” Plush said. “There are touchpoints… I think the access you get from the private suites, the Amerant Vault to the Amerant Bank Arena, the Amerant Lounge to
Heat Games — It’s amazing the contacts you can make.”

Games “create a very unique and compelling context in which to do business,” Gilbert said. “If you buy the naming rights to a building, obviously you’re going to have some sort of high-end suite with great views. Create a highly memorable experience that makes an impression. That, plus knowing the building is named after that company, communicates credibility. and stability.”

Now, Plush is using sports partnerships to help drive Amerant’s expansion plans. Major League Baseball’s Tampa Rays named Amerant its official bank in July, about two months after Amerant cut the ribbon on its first Tampa-area branch in the city’s bustling Westshore shopping district. “Our view was a better way to become well-known in the Tampa market,” Plush said.

Amerant made news in April of announcing the sale of its six Houston-area branches. Plush likened the move to “doubling down” on its growing presence in South Florida. “It’s challenging to think we can achieve the same brand awareness and recognition,” Plush said. “I loved Texas. I loved Houston. We think it makes more sense to be focused here.”

Similarly, Amerant’s sports partnerships are meant to highlight its local identity, according to Plush. “Whether you’re here in Florida or internationally, people know who the Miami Heat are,” Plush said. “Being the official bank of the Miami Heat and aligning with such a well-known brand increases our awareness. The same is true when you think about the Florida Panthers, the Miami Marlins and the Tampa Bay Rays.”

“Any kind of investment in the community where there’s visibility but also sincerity is a great demonstration,” Gilbert said. “It’s literally putting your money where your mouth is. It’s about making a difference and really showing that you’re part of the community, not just being part of the community.”