Right now, just about all of the focus of Hokie Nation is on the upcoming football season with the opening game against Ohio State just about a month away. It has been an exciting couple weeks with announcements that classes will be cancelled on Labor Day, and that ESPN will bring a special one-hour edition of College Gameday on Labor Day night.
However, the news today shifted to the home arena of basketball and wrestling, Cassell Coliseum, with a sponsorship announcement for the arena.
Whit Babcock and Virginia Tech athletics announced today that Carilion Clinic has reached a ten-year deal worth $500,000 per year with Virginia Tech to sponsor the court at Cassell Coliseum. The court at Cassell Coliseum will now be known as the Virginia Tech Carilion Court.
Carilion Clinic and Virginia Tech have had a relationship for a while in many areas with the most high-profile being the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. This is the latest deal in a significant partnership between Carilion Clinic and Virginia Tech that has been going on for over two decades.
This is a very smart move for Whit Babcock to bring more revenue in while also preserving the name of Cassell Coliseum for the sake of preserving the name of the facility or to leave that open for a bigger sponsorship deal in the future.
While men's basketball is a big revenue draw for the athletic department, this is even bigger for some of the smaller revenue draws that occupy Cassell Coliseum including women's basketball, wrestling, and volleyball. Cassell Coliseum has now become a more profitable venue with this, and the addition of Courtside at Cassell for men's and women's basketball.
Whit Babcock has made a commitment to staying up in raising funds for Virginia Tech athletics while also not touching the student athletic fee. This is just the latest smart move by Babcock to raise more money to continue to build Virginia Tech athletics into becoming an athletic powerhouse in the future.
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