‘Dale FIU!’ Pitbull Stadium era kicks off with a bang during Panthers’ football home opener

FIU has become perhaps the only college football team in the nation with a Spanish word painted in each end zone.

That’s how the Pitbull Stadium era started on Saturday — with the words “Dale FIU!” painted in white with gold trim on a blue background.

Dale, of course, is a word used often by Pitbull, the bilingual rapper who recently committed to spend $1.2 million per year for at least five years in exchange for naming rights to FIU’s football stadium.

Less than one hour before the kickoff to Saturday night’s 2024 home opener against Central Michigan, FIU athletic director Scott Carr told the Miami Herald that he wanted to “really lean in” to his program’s partnership with Pitbull.

“This is an exciting new era,” Carr said. “[Pitbull] loves FIU. He wants to see us succeed.

“That’s why we don’t see this as a sponsorship. We see this as a partnership.”

Unfortunately, Pitbull couldn’t attend Saturday because he’s on tour in New York.

The FIU football team got the party started with their first victory of the season — a 52-16 shellacking of Central Michigan.

Once Pitbull’s tour ends on Nov. 2 in Toronto, Carr expects to have a conversation then — if not sooner — about “next steps” in their partnership.

In the meantime, FIU is busy putting up lots of signs that have to do with Pitbull, such as “Mr. Worldwide.” Another sign read: “Student Section: Welcome to the 305.”

Carr said 60 percent of the signage outside the stadium has been completed. He expects the rest to be done by next week.

“The new branding looks wonderful,” Carr said. “It really pops.”

To commemorate Saturday’s big event, Carr said the first 10,000 fans were given Pitbull pins.

The pin has Pitbull’s likeness with a football field as the backdrop. The pin reads: PITBULL STADIUM SEP 07 2024.

“This is a special night and a special partnership,” Carr said. “We wanted something we could put in the hands of our fans to commemorate this night.

“As a university, we’re doing amazing things on the academic side. This is the start of the next piece, which is to bring notoriety to our athletic program.”