Home improvement retailer Lowe’s is teaming up with 32 NFL players, representing each team, in a new initiative to give back to individuals and organizations within their respective communities, the company announced in a press release on Wednesday.
Called the Lowe’s “Home Team,” the new initiative will connect current NFL players and the company’s store associates “to make an impact in their own ‘home’ market by surprising local individuals or organizations who represent the cultural fabric of the community with needed project support,” according to the release. The team will also support virtual fan engagements through season-long initiatives to help keep fans connected from their own homes.
Last year’s NFL MVP Lamar Jackson, who plays for the Baltimore Ravens, and All-Pro Christian McCaffrey, who plays for the Carolina Panthers, will serve as captains for the “Home Team.”
“We’re entering what will be the most unique NFL season we’ve ever experienced. Our homes are where football fandom will be taking place this year, but the power of sports, and football in particular, is in how it can unite us in the larger sense of home: our communities and cities. Everyone likes to get behind their home team. And this year, we are giving a whole new meaning to that idea,” Lowe’s chief brand and marketing officer Marisa Thalberg said in a statement.
This marks the second season where Lowe’s will serve as the “Official Home Improvement Retail Sponsor” of the NFL. Lowe’s is also expanding its NFL team partnerships with the Carolina Panthers and Dallas Cowboys to include new season-long partnerships with the Baltimore Ravens, Chicago Bears, Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Rams and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Lowe’s operates more than 2,200 home improvement and hardware stores in the U.S. and Canada and employs approximately 300,000 associates.
Shares of Lowe’s were last trading up 1.91 percent, or $3.03, near $161.36.