Purdue enters into new exclusive merchandising agreement

On July 1, Purdue entered into an exclusive on-site and online merchandise partnership with MainGate, a merchandising company based in Indianapolis.

The six-year contract provides MainGate the exclusive rights for on-site and online merchandise sales for both Purdue as a whole in addition to all of Purdue Athletics. As a part of the partnership, MainGate will operate event sales at Ross-Ade Stadium, Mackey Arena and all varsity athletic events. In addition, MainGate will manage and staff two Purdue Team Store locations, one at Ross-Ade Stadium and the other in Purdue Memorial Union. Both locations will be open year-round and renovation of each store has already begun. Both stores are set to reopen later this month.

A new eCommerce store, PurdueTeamStore.com, also will be managed by MainGate. The new eCommerce store combines the existing University and Athletics online stores into one eCommerce location to offer University and academic merchandise as well as merchandise for each athletic team. The new online Purdue Team Store launched on July 1.

Additionally, MainGate will be Purdue’s official source for wholesale opportunities. More information about MainGate can be found here.

“This is an amazing opportunity and an absolutely wonderful partnership for us,” said David Moroknek, president and CEO of MainGate. “We are honored that Purdue University has chosen us as their merchandise partner and we are excited to get started serving their students, faculty and hundreds of thousands of alumni around the world.”

Erika Austin, manager of trademarks and licensing at Purdue, said, “We are excited to partner with MainGate to offer official Purdue merchandise to our fans, alumni and students through the launch of the new Purdue Team Store. MainGate’s extensive relationships with NFL teams as well as the Big Ten Conference will enhance the buying experience for Boilermaker fans through a wide array of on-trend products, promotions and excellent customer service. All sales will significantly benefit Purdue University in many ways, including its general and athletics scholarship funds.”

Writer: Kelsey Schnieders Lefever, kschnied@purdue.edu
Source: Erika Austin, manager of trademarks and licensing, austin55@purdue.edu