Student athletes at The Ohio State University are likely to eat well this year.
Chipotle on Thursday announced a first-of-its-kind partnership with the campus that will give all scholarship and walk-on athletes one free entrée per week during their athletic seasons.
The partnership will impact about 1,000 students.
Why OSU?
Chipotle has a restaurant support center in Columbus, Ohio, where the university is located. But also OSU is among the top five four-year universities that eat the most Chipotle.
“With so many Buckeyes routinely visiting our High Street restaurant on campus and our strong connection to the Columbus community with a Restaurant Support Center in the Arena District, we wanted to pursue a partnership that would increase access to real food for all student athletes at OSU,” said Chris Brandt, Chipotle’s chief brand officer, in a statement. “Typically only a few star athletes secure NIL deals and brand partnerships, but we wanted to reward all Buckeyes with real ingredients to support their pursuit of academic and athletic excellence.”
Ohio State football stars have also been featured in ads for Chipotle, and the brand’s Cultivate Foundation has introduced a full four-year scholarship for in-state students attending the school’s College of Food, Agriculture and Environmental Studies.
But if OSU is just one of the top five Chipotle-eating universities, what are the other four? Chipotle shares this list:
- University of Colorado, Boulder
- Arizona State University, Tempe
- University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
- Emory University, Atlanta
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