KINGSTON, R.I. — Long-time corporate supporter Coventry Lumber will extend its partnership with University of Rhode Island Athletics, as well as stamp its name on a brand-new, season-long initiative during men’s basketball entitled “Every Free Throw Counts”.

URI Athletics‘ multimedia rightsholder, Learfield’s Rhody Sports Properties, oversees the integrated partnership with Coventry Lumber, which desired to deepen its community ties and alignment with the national Coaches vs. Cancer initiative. “Every Free Throw Counts” is a new addition to URI’s three-year involvement with Coaches vs. Cancer where at every men’s home game this season, Coventry Lumber will designate $25 for every URI free throw made. At the end of the season, the monies set aside in the “Every Free Throw Counts” fund will be earmarked to the American Cancer Society and the Coaches vs. Cancer campaign.

“Everyone knows someone impacted by cancer, and we had expressed our desire to increase our involvement not only with Rhody Athletics, but with the overall Coaches vs. Cancer campaign in a larger capacity than what we had done in previous years,” said Coventry Lumber Owner Bill Finnegan. “We couldn’t be more excited about making a larger investment into what we consider to be a great need, while at the same time escalating our role with URI, which has been a delight to partner with.”

As part of Coventry’s overall partnership with URI Athletics, the brand will receive various promotions via radio, print and online as well as in-arena digital visibility. For several years, Coventry Lumber has had additional involvement with university athletics programming aside from Coaches vs. Cancer, which is a nationwide collaboration between the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) that empowers basketball coaches, their teams, and local communities to make a difference in the fight against cancer.

“This has been a remarkable effort to raise funds to fight cancer, and we are so appreciative of our university relationships like URI and what one of their corporate partners, Coventry Lumber, has chosen to do to up the ante in their investment toward this terrific cause. We are grateful to them and excited about another season and hopefully unprecedented funds raised,” said Kelly Stewart, Community Manager, Special Events – Coaches vs. Cancer.

Rhode Island sliderRhody Sports Properties is Learfield’s local team in Kingston. An industry leader for more than four decades, Learfield has a deep presence in the college athletics landscape nationwide. In addition to URI, it manages the multimedia and sponsorship rights for more than 120 collegiate institutions, conferences and arenas, and supports athletic departments at all competitive levels as title sponsor of the prestigious Learfield Directors’ Cup. Learfield also provides its collegiate partners access to professional concessions and ticket sales; branding, licensing and trademark consulting; digital and social platform expertise; campus-wide business and sponsorship development; and venue and technology systems through its affiliated companies.