Tennessee Titans begin partnership with Lipscomb basketball

Thursday Jan. 30, marked the start of a partnership between the Tennessee Titans and Lipscomb Men’s Basketball. “Titans Night” featured Lipscomb and its ASUN conference rival Eastern Kentucky facing off on the court. The game also featured the Titans team mascot T-Rac and several representatives from their cheer squad. 

Spencer Barnabee is the director of marketing for Lipscomb Athletics, he was at the center of organizing the event.

“It was a really fun night,” Barnabee said. “We were really excited to get to partner with such a big name like the Tennessee Titans. They reached out to us first, it wasn’t on our radar that would really be a possibility, but one of their marketing people came up with the idea to get plugged in at D1 universities throughout Tennessee…” 

That aforementioned marketing person was CJ Zavada, coordinator of marketing and fan engagement for the Titans.

“This idea spawned from a different idea that I had to work with some of our local minor league baseball teams in the Titans market,” Zavada said. “I thought that this could be a really good way to have our brand be represented in a positive light in these college markets.” 

The game featured performances and dances from T-Rac and the cheer team, Titans team T-shirt giveaways and a raffle featuring a helmet signed by Titans defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons.

Zavada reflected on the growing relationship between the two organizations and how it is mutually beneficial. 

“We want to be good neighbors to all the big brands here in Nashville… we want to support all the efforts that Lipscomb is doing this year and in years forward,” Zavada said. “We love having college students… so we want to be able to engage with you guys in a more frequent matter.” 

“It was at no cost to us, other than time and manpower, so it was a really good deal on our end,” Barnabee said. “Instead of just seeing (Lipscomb) as some small mid-major school, knowing that the Titans are partnering with you, just carries a little more weight to it and helps us have a little bit more legitimacy and people take us a little bit more seriously and allow us to grow on a bigger scale.”

If you’re a fan of either team, expect to see this crossover between Lipscomb and the Titans more frequently in the coming years.