FRESNO, Calif. \u2013\u00a0Fresno State Athletics announced a major five-year agreement with The Wonderful Company\u2122 \u2013 one of the largest agriculture companies in California\u2019s Central Valley, which produces a diverse range of products, including fruits, nuts, flowers, water, wines and juices \u2013 that will unite two of the region\u2019s most recognizable brands through the first portfolio-wide jersey patch partnership in collegiate athletics. The new agreement\u00a0represents\u00a0the largest corporate partnership in the history of Bulldog Athletics and aligns with The Wonderful Company\u2019s healthy consumer food products and its commitment to supporting California\u2019s Central Valley communities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Beginning with the 2026-27 academic year, each of the 18 Fresno State Athletics programs will feature a jersey patch representing one of three Wonderful Company brands \u2013 Wonderful\u00ae Pistachios, Wonderful\u00ae Halos mandarins and POM Wonderful\u00ae \u2013 creating a first-of-its-kind platform that strategically aligns multiple brands from a single corporate portfolio across different Bulldog teams. In addition to the jersey patch, Wonderful Pistachios will have its logo on the playing surface at Valley Children\u2019s Stadium for all Bulldog football team home games.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no more natural partner for Fresno State than The Wonderful Company, whose impact on the Central Valley extends far beyond the\u00a0products\u00a0it grows and\u00a0markets,\u201d said Sa\u00fal Jim\u00e9nez-Sandoval,\u00a0President\u00a0of Fresno State. \u201cFor decades, Wonderful has invested in the people, communities,\u00a0and future of this region,\u00a0strengthening the Valley and improving lives. Together, we are\u00a0creating\u00a0lasting\u00a0opportunities and\u00a0investing in the next generation of leaders.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cA traditional jersey patch sponsorship would not reflect the scale of our shared ambitions,\u201d said Garrett Klassy, Fresno State director of athletics. \u201cBy bringing together Wonderful Pistachios, Wonderful\u00a0Halos\u00a0and POM Wonderful across all 18 Bulldog programs, we have created something truly distinctive in collegiate athletics. This partnership celebrates iconic brands grown in the Valley while creating meaningful new opportunities for our student-athletes and our university.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
As the Bulldogs embark on their new era in the Pac-12, they step into the national stage with an even greater opportunity to\u00a0showcase\u00a0the passion, pride and determination that define the Valley. Every time the Bulldogs take the field, the Fresno State and The Wonderful Company iconic brands will be displayed side by side,\u00a0representing\u00a0far more than a logo. They symbolize a shared commitment to the student-athletes, the\u00a0university\u00a0and the community they proudly\u00a0represent. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Year-Round Activations Extend the Partnership Across Campus, Game Days and Beyond<\/p>\n
Facilitated by Bulldog Sports Enterprises, Fresno State Athletics\u2019 multimedia rights partner, the agreement extends beyond jersey patches to create meaningful touchpoints with students,\u00a0alumni\u00a0and fans year-round.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Wonderful Pistachios, Wonderful\u00a0Halos\u00a0and POM Wonderful will be featured across Fresno State Athletics through game-day signage, sampling activations, concessions, hospitality\u00a0spaces\u00a0and\u00a0special events. The partnership will also create opportunities to engage students through campus events, retail locations where permissible and student-athlete spaces.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The collaboration with Wonderful Pistachios will extend into the digital world through the inclusion of Fresno State\u2019s jersey patches and field branding in EA SPORTS\u2122 College Football video game. \u00a0<\/p>\n
To connect with Bulldog Nation beyond Fresno, Bulldog Sports Enterprises, the Fresno State Alumni Association and Wonderful Pistachios will host an annual away-game football tailgate, beginning with the Bulldogs\u2019 September 4 matchup at USC.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Reflecting a Long-Term Vision to Elevate the Central Valley on the National Stage<\/p>\n
The partnership also builds on the longstanding commitment of The Wonderful Company\u2019s co-founders and owners, Lynda and Stewart Resnick, and their foundation to Fresno State. Their support includes the\u00a0Lynda and Stewart Resnick Student Union, which opened in 2022 and serves as a centerpiece of student life on campus. Together, this partnership\u00a0reflect\u00a0a shared investment in Fresno State students, student-athletes\u00a0and the Central Valley community.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the heart of this partnership is a shared belief in the future of the Central Valley and the people who call it home,\u201d said Andy Anzaldo, chief operating officer of corporate social responsibility at The Wonderful Company. \u201cOur Wonderful Pistachios, POM pomegranates and Halos mandarins are grown right here, and our owners, Lynda and Stewart Resnick, have invested in this region for decades \u2014 in education, health and wellness, infrastructure, and pathways for first-generation college students. Our support for Fresno State is a natural extension of that commitment: no university in California is home to more graduates supported by Wonderful and the Resnicks.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Wonderful Company\u2019s commitment to education\u00a0and opportunity in California\u2019s Central Valley extends far beyond Fresno State. \u00a0Across the Central Valley, students who graduate from\u00a0Wonderful\u2019s\u00a0early college programs and the Wonderful College Prep Academy charter schools, as well as\u00a0Wonderful\u00a0employees\u2019\u00a0children\u00a0are eligible to earn a\u00a0Wonderful\u00a0college scholarship up to $4,000. \u00a0With 1,200 Wonderful College Scholars attending universities across the country,\u00a0nearly 400\u00a0of those scholars are attending Fresno State this year. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis partnership shows what\u2019s possible when two organizations with deep Central Valley roots share a vision for elevating our community on the national stage,\u201d said Ryan O\u2019Rorke, Vice President and General Manager of Bulldog Sports Enterprises. \u201cThe Wonderful Company shared that vision with us from day one. We sought to create an innovative platform that not only delivers meaningful brand integration for\u00a0Wonderful\u2019s\u00a0portfolio of world-class\u00a0products, but\u00a0also generates transformational resources that directly benefit Bulldog student-athletes while celebrating the pride of the Valley.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Wonderful Company and its founders,\u00a0Lynda\u00a0and Stewart Resnick \u2014 along with their foundations \u2014 have contributed more than\u00a0$2.5 billion\u00a0in philanthropy to causes around the world, with a particular emphasis on the Central Valley. They have invested more than $850 million to-date in the region where thousands of its employees live and raise their families, covering initiatives in health and wellness, education, infrastructure, affordable housing and more.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In a shared commitment to\u00a0hard work\u00a0and an unwavering blue-collar mentality, the Bulldogs proudly\u00a0represent\u00a0the entire Central Valley and now do so with the continued support of The Wonderful Company. \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FRESNO, Calif. \u2013\u00a0Fresno State Athletics announced a major five-year agreement with The Wonderful Company\u2122 \u2013 one of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":435785,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113,107984],"class_list":["post-435784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news","tag-the-wonderful-company"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=435784"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435784\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/435785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=435784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=435784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=435784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}