Saluki Athletics partners with Eyeblack
07/20/2012 | 12:00:00 | General
July 20, 2012
CARBONDALE, Ill. - EyeBlack, the company that started a sports revolution by combining logos, phrases and Bible verses with EyeBlack, today announced it has entered into a relationship with Southern Illinois University Athletics. This marks EyeBlack's first corporate partnership with a college athletic department.
As a partner of Saluki Athletics, EyeBlack will produce customized Salukis products for the school's athletic department. Student-athletes will be able to wear the EyeBlack in games, and Athletics will utilize the products as a marketing tool for various promotions throughout the year. In addition, EyeBlack signage will be displayed at SIU's baseball and softball facilities, as well as the football complex, Saluki Stadium, which can seat 15,000 people.
"We first approached EyeBlack about a short-term project, but after engaging with their team we realized this could become a much bigger relationship," said Mario Moccia, Director of Athletics at SIU. "EyeBlack is a functional sports product for our student-athletes, as well as a fun product that students, alumni and fans can wear to support the Salukis. We look forward to building a great partnership with EyeBlack."
Since becoming incorporated in 2003, EyeBlack has continued to build its presence within the college athletic marketplace. With over 6 million pairs sold last year, thousands of student-athletes wear EyeBlack to improve their in-game performance, as well as fans to show support for their favorite school, team or player. EyeBlack has over 120 collegiate licenses, and their products are worn by over 80 percent of athletic programs. Their products are sold in the majority of campus bookstores along with big box stores and mid-size retailers. EyeBlack has also branched out producing a variety of different colored EyeBlack products to support and enhance various initiatives like Breast Cancer and Prostate Cancer Awareness.
"Our Company is very excited to enter a relationship with SIU Athletics," said Peter Beveridge, president and founder of EyeBlack. "We will be providing products that will help their athletes and we will also give the school another way to build game day support for the athletic program using EyeBlack products. We look forward to supporting the Salukis, and want to build a strong model that we can bring to other athletic programs."
