Liberty Mutual Signs on as Title Sponsor for Music City Bowl in Nashville

It’s not the Liberty Bowl, but the Music City Bowl in Nashville that Liberty Mutual Insurance is sponsoring this year, giving the insurance carrier more branding exposure in a Dec. 30 matchup between Southeastern Conference and Big Ten football teams.

The title sponsorship agreement was announced Tuesday at Nashville’s Nissan Stadium, along with the bowl game’s new logo, Liberty Mutual announced in a news release. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but other bowl sponsorships have ranged from $500,000 to $25 million, according to news reports.

“With this investment in the Music City Bowl, Liberty Mutual Insurance is demonstrating confidence in Nashville’s growing sports and tourism sector, highlighting the benefit of corporate and community partnership,” said Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell.

The Music City Bowl began in 1998 and has produced some $450 million in economic impact to Nashville, the news release noted. Last year, the bowl game was sponsored by TransPerfect, a translation and marketing service for global businesses, and featured the University of Missouri Tigers versus the Iowa Hawkeyes. It drew some 2.8 million viewers, according to a Nashville news report.

Boston-based Liberty Mutual joins two other major insurers in bowl sponsorship so far this year: Allstate Insurance is the title sponsor for the Jan. 2 Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, a playoff quarterfinal game; the Jan. 1 Rose Bowl, also a quarterfinal game, is sponsored by Prudential Insurance.

Other insurance companies in recent years have expanded sponsorships in the sports world, with patches on players’ uniforms and stadiums named for insurers. The Dec. 27 Liberty Bowl in Memphis this year is sponsored by AutoZone.

Photo: Nissan Stadium in Nashville (Adobe Stock)