Inside the efforts that led to Northwest Federal Credit Union’s Commanders sponsorship agreement

Northwest Federal Credit Union’s historic agreement with the Commanders has “greatly enhanced the credit union’s brand awareness and exposure,” as stated by Drew Hansen from the WASHINGTON BUSINESS JOURNAL. A few years back, Northwest Federal Credit Union President & CEO Jeff Bentley contacted former Commanders owner Dan Snyder “regarding marketing possibilities.” Bentley said: “Sadly, their main aim was to sell me a suite, which was not what I was interested in. Therefore, we decided to part ways.” Then in July 2023, 76ers co-owner Josh Harris acquired the team for $6.05B. Bentley noted that when the team reached out about sponsorship possibilities that summer, it felt like a “different environment, positively.” Numerous talks took place before Northwest agreed on a three-year contract that featured various presenting partnerships and naming rights for the club level at FedEx Field. Consequently, Northwest needed to “enhance its marketing division and recruit individuals knowledgeable about the sports sponsorship sector.” Later, when FedEx unexpectedly announced in February it was ending its long-standing naming-rights deal for the Commanders’ venue, Bentley mentioned that Northwest “was immediately asked if it was interested in filling the gap.” Bentley remarked that the Commanders “continued to return with various proposals,” and his credit union “persistently declined.” However, they “eventually created ‘something that made sense,’” allowing them to finalize the agreement. The specifics of the deal “have not been revealed,” but SBJ indicated that the contract is valued at over the $7.6M average annual amount that FedEx provided. Northwest also secured the position of jersey patch sponsor for the Commanders’ practice jerseys (WASHINGTON BUSINESS JOURNAL, 12/5).