The Cincinnati Bengals have inked another sponsorship deal ahead of the 2022-2023 season – this time, partnering with a local tech startup that’s seen fast growth since first establishing its home base in the city in 2020.
Rumby, which has developed an e-commerce platform to take dry cleaners and laundromats online, is now an official partner of the 2021 AFC Champions.
It’s a slightly unusual partnership for a startup, but the Bengals are adding a host of new sponsors fresh off their first Super Bowl appearance since 1989.
The team, most notably, signed a landmark 16-year naming rights deal with Norwood payroll and HR firm Paycor in August. Kettering Health, the team's health care sponsor; Altafiber, formerly Cincinnati Bell; Betfred, the Bengals sports betting partner; and Canvus Cocktails, a canned cocktail brand launched by Boone County Distilling, have also recently announced agreements.
Ben Cantey, Rumby’s founder, declined to disclose financials behind the deal but said the company’s sponsorship is in the seven figures.
The four-year agreement includes Rumby’s logo on LED sideline signage during preseason and regular games, local radio broadcast features, a digital content series with “Best of the Game” photo galleries and more.
Exposure is the main objective, he said. Rumby, founded in January 2020, is looking to grow its reach nationwide.
“As a rapidly growing Cincinnati company, it only makes sense for Rumby to partner with our hometown football team,” Cantey said. “This sponsorship gives us incredible exposure across the United States.”
Rumby’s business-to-business (B2B) platform, Rumby Exchange, uses proprietary software to connect hotels, commercial buildings, apartments and condominiums to independent dry cleaners for services that include customer laundry, dry cleaning, shoe repair and alterations.
Rumby Exchange has signed on more than 100 properties, including hotels under the Marriott, Four Seasons and Renaissance brands in cities like Boston, Cincinnati, Dallas, Denver, Miami, Phoenix and Washington, D.C.
Rumby also offers a separate product for individual customers to place orders for laundry and dry-cleaning pickup and delivery, in which Rumby uses existing driver networks like Uber and Postmates.
Cantey has said dry cleaners and laundromats are among the last brick-and-mortar verticals to face digital disruption. The company generates revenue by taking a small percentage of every order it processes online.
“The future is pickup and delivery,” he said.
Cantey, a Springfield Township native, relocated Rumby to Cincinnati from Los Angeles amid the Covid-19 pandemic. He’s been intentional about growing the company’s talent base locally. The company, based out of Over-the-Rhine’s Union Hall, has 23 employees.
Rumby has raised $5 million in 2022 with a Series A round in the works. The new funds are expected to increase the company's valuation to $100 million.
For the Bengals, sponsorship dollars are key to boosting revenue. Funds can be used to sign players or accelerate stadium renovations. The team is also building an indoor practice facility.
“Our partnership with Rumby demonstrates our passion for working with local businesses,” Brian Sells, Bengals vice president and chief marketing officer, said in a release. “Rumby is rapidly expanding, and we are excited to introduce more fans to their brand and technology.”
