Le Moyne has entered the big time and is playing like it. Central New York sports fans has a new D1 program to get excited about, and it represents a momentum building in the entire region.
Le Moyne College announced a jersey patch sponsorship last week with ForEDU, the locally founded education technology company built by Vinny Lobdell and Devin Daly. The deal covers all 20 of Le Moyne’s Division I programs starting this fall, and it’s worth noting what that actually means: a school that only moved up to Division I three years ago, entering its first season eligible for NCAA postseason play (yes, that includes March Madness), just landed a corporate jersey patch deal. Athletic director Phil Brown called it “incredibly unique,” noting Le Moyne is only the second school in the entire NEC with an arrangement like it. Le Moyne wants to run with the big dogs, and that ambition is great for all CNY sports fans.
Syracuse doesn’t have a jersey partner yet, although you know with the priority of revenue creation on the Hill it isn’t far away. New AD Bryan Blair wants to help revolutionize the game day experience at the Dome and tailgating around it. Le Moyne is now eligible for the Big Dance in a few months. Casey Powell is coaching the Dolphins lax program. G-Mac and Melo are high-fiving in CNY again. The sky is blue.
This is a genuinely rare accomplishment for Le Moyne and a program this size. It’s happening at the exact moment Le Moyne is trying to establish itself on a much bigger stage. It’s also happening as the region gets infused with Micron’s impending arrival.
The housing market is booming in CNY as Micron has turbo charged the speculation. Local businesses will certainly benefit from that sea change. Jobs will be created. Syracuse has major energy behind the hiring of Gerry McNamara. And Le Moyne just landed local legend Powell as the program’s new men’s lacrosse head coach, a hire that instantly raises the Dolphins national profile in a sport this region cares deeply about.
A new corporate sponsor, a marquee coaching hire, and a program’s first taste of postseason eligibility, all landing in the same stretch, is exactly the kind of momentum a young D-I athletic department needs. And it stands on the sports vibes that are already building.
The story becomes bigger than Le Moyne. A rising tide lifts all boats, and these are the types of dynamics that prove that. CNY sports fans just got a second D1 program worth paying attention to, backed by a genuinely local success story instead of an outside corporation writing a check for visibility. ForEDU wasn’t built in Silicon Valley or Manhattan. It was built here, by people with real, deep ties to this region, Daly’s wife, father and sister are all Le Moyne graduates, and Lobdell’s wife is too. This is two Central New York institutions, one educational, one athletic, supporting each other publicly.
I was at the incredible SUmmer Slam in July, held on Lobdell’s property, in his own basketball barn. Those with the microphone repeatedly tried to pull him into the spotlight to thank him. Melo tried. G-Mac tried. Emcee Sean Dorcellus tried. Each time, Lobdell offered a quick wave and moved the moment along. I was so impressed by the whole event, I talked about the positive energy that resonated throughout. That single night raised more than $1 million for Syracuse’s One Orange Alliance, one of the more remarkable single-event fundraising hauls this region has seen. Lobdell wants CNY to be a destination for world class education and sports.
Lobdell’s business success and his ability to connect people, keep showing up as a quiet engine underneath CNY athletics’ momentum this year, whether it’s a Syracuse fundraiser or a Le Moyne jersey patch. He genuinely believes Central New York can build something worth national attention without needing to leave the region to do it.
Le Moyne getting a jersey sponsorship is proof the whole regional ecosystem is strengthening at once, and hopefully CNY sports fans get to revel in all the benefits.
