Colorado State University Athletic Director Joe Parker announced a new partnership related to the university’s on-campus football stadium with New Belgium Brewing Company Monday in a private gathering at the brewery. 

According to Parker, the brewer donated a gift of $4.3 million to name the north endzone of the new stadium  “New Belgium Porch,” where patrons will also be able to purchase New Belgium beer. According to CSU Events staff, the facility might also be utilized on non-game days for special events, though nothing specific is currently planned for the future. 

“This is our hometown, and there’s a lot of CSU alums, including myself, 81 people that work for New Belgium,” New Belguim CEO Christine Perich said. “So when this opportunity presented itself, we were incredibly excited. What a cool way to partner in our own community and create a space for people to hang out and have a good time and enjoy a beer.”

 Perich said that the company has no plans for further sponsorship of the on-campus stadium beyond the announced naming rights to the north endzone. 

The announcement was met with much enthusiasm by the dozens of alumni, athletic boosters and community members present at the event, many of whom expressed excitement at the potential for the new partnership. 

“I think that having an iconic part of the community like New Belgium getting involved with this project is really cool,” said Mary Taylor, a landscape architect involved with the stadium. “I think it’s really important that  people know that this will be a positive thing.” 

Older alumni were equally enthusiastic. Len Carpenter, a 1968 graduate of CSU that as a student used to watch games on the university’s first on-campus stadium, the Colorado Field, felt that the stadium and the partnership would help bring CSU further into the community. 

“If you go back in history, the Fort Collins community was really involved with football because it was close by… while there was nothing bad about Hughes (Stadium), it kind of took it away from the campus and the community,” Carpenter said. “So I think now, it’s like we’re bringing it back home. I think we all should be pleased that a great company and part of the community like New Belgium is playing a role in this.”

Collegian Assistant Opinion Editor and Columnist Sean Kennedy can be reached at letters@collegian.com or on Twitter.