Indiana athletic director Scott Dolson detailed Friday the circumstances that led to the blockbuster 20-year, $50 million contract between IU and Merchants Bank that will have the Hoosiers' football stadium going forward be known as Merchants Bank Field at Memorial Stadium.

The genesis of the deal, Dolson said, came when the athletic director and university president Pam Whitten attended the Empire Classic basketball tournament in New York in fall 2023. Dolson was introducing Whitten to some Hoosier donors, among whom was Mike Petrie, IU alumnus and director and chairman of Merchants Bank for more than two decades. Dolson mentioned to Whitten the pair had talked in the past about a naming rights deal for the stadium.

"Mike looked right at me and said, 'Yeah, we've talked about that, but

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