January 19 was a momentous day for Merchants Bank as we celebrated Indiana University (IU) football’s historic National Championship win. Not only do many of our employees proudly call IU their alma mater, but the victory served as the perfect finale to the inaugural year of Merchants Bank’s transformative sponsorship in support of IU’s Department of Intercollegiate Athletics and its student-athletes.
Announced in August 2025, our 20-year, $50 million deal with IU Athletics included renaming Memorial Stadium’s playing surface to Merchants Bank Field at Memorial Stadium. As IU football remained undefeated throughout the season, millions of sports fans were introduced to our organization’s brand and mission. In tandem with the naming rights, Michael F. Petrie, co-founder and chairman of Merchants Bank, was determined to ensure the sponsorship would incorporate free financial literacy training available to all IU student-athletes for years to come.
“Collegiate athletics have gone through significant changes in the last five years with the approval of NIL,” said Petrie. “As a two-time IU graduate, I saw this sponsorship as an opportunity to share the Merchants team’s talents with the next generation through modern, realistic financial literacy education that aligns with real-world student-athlete experiences.”
With each state across the country having varied financial literacy education requirements, many student-athletes enter income-earning opportunities with limited knowledge and resource gaps. The financial literacy training provided by Merchants Bank, anticipated to begin in the summer of 2026, will help ensure student-athletes can maximize opportunities in today’s intercollegiate athletics landscape. Topics will include budgeting, saving and investing, money psychology, planning for tax season, working with an agent, and more.
“Similar to IU Football’s historic 2025 season, our hope for this sponsorship is to magnify what Hoosiers are capable of,” added Petrie. “Week after week, both fans and skeptics had all eyes on IU with each stellar performance to become the 2025 National Champions. With a perfect 16-0 season record and a bright future, IU Athletics is sure to be one to watch for years to come.”
From announcing the sponsorship at a press conference at Henke Hall of Champions to the National Championship game in Miami, it has been a storybook season for Merchants Bank. As we look ahead, we are proud to work alongside IU and its athletes. Together, we can demonstrate how universities and financial institutions can mitigate financial literacy gaps while setting young adults up for success beyond their collegiate sports careers and well into adulthood.
