Discover how Tropical Financial Credit Union’s partnership with the Stanley Cup–winning Florida Panthers turned into a marketing powerhouse, driving new member growth and brand love across South Florida.
Three years ago Tropical Financial Credit Union, a $1 billion south Florida institution, signed on as a sponsor of the Florida Panthers and magic happened because the Panthers – in the National Hockey League – won the Stanley Cup in 2024 and won again in 2025. That’s the equivalent of winning the World Series in baseball or the Super Bowl in football and, definitely, the Panthers now are the darlings of south Florida because everybody loves a winner.
On the show is Marylen Yiris, vice president of marketing at Tropical Financial and she tells how the credit union partnered with the Panthers and the benefits she believes the credit union has gotten from the arrangement. Note: new member activations are one metric she uses in assessing the value of the relationship.
Understand: Tropical Financial is enthusiastic about sports sponsorship. It now has inked a sponsorship with Fort Lauderdale United FC, a women’s soccer team that competes in a new league.
And Yiris indicates that Tropical Financial is open to exploring still more sponsorship deals with sports teams.
Earlier this year the CU 2.0 Podcast hosted Christine Blake, CEO of Cardinal Credit Union in Ohio which has a sponsorship deal with the Cleveland Browns in the NFL.
It’s hard to get noticed in today’s cluttered mediascape – and the credit unions that have sponsorships say they work in elevating brand awareness.
