Spirit Program Appearance Request
ENTITY | MASCOT | SPIRIT | MASCOT & SPIRIT | DURATION |
UNIVERSITY | $200 | $175 | $300 | 30 MIN. |
REGISTERED STUDENT ORG. | $125 | $100 | $225 | 30 MIN. |
CORPORATE | $700 | $500 | $850 | 30 MIN. |
WEDDINGS/SPECIAL EVENTS | $700 | $500 | $850 | 30 MIN. |
NON-PROFIT (503-C3) | $200 | $175 | $300 | 30 MIN. |
K-12 | $125 | $100 | $225 | 30 MIN. |
Spirit Program Appearance Request Guidelines:
Important: Before completing the request form, we strongly recommend reading through each section below. Each section provides key information to ensure you have the best possible opportunity to book the team for your appearance
Spirit Program Elements
You have the option to request, Mascot, Spirit, or Both Mascot & Spirit. These program elements are defined as follows:
- Mascot - Brutus Buckeye only
- Spirit - Members of the Ohio State Cheer or the Ohio State Dance Team
- Mascot & Spirit - Both Brutus and members of the Ohio State Cheer Team, Brutus and members of the Ohio State Dance Team, or Brutus and members of the Ohio State Cheer and Dance Team
Event Types (Entity)
- This describes the type of event you are requesting the student athletes for. They are defined as follows
- University - Any event for a department that falls under the umbrella of the Ohio State University including its regional campuses.
- Registered Student Org. - Any event for an active registered student organization at the Ohio State University. *Note - we do verify the org. status via the universities database and your org. must be compliant and in good standing with the Office of Student life.
- Corporate - Any event for a Business or Association. *Note- The business or association must not be a competitor with any of our Learfield partners and all corporate requests require approval from Learfield before they can be accepted.
- Weddings/Special Events - Any wedding, party, or private gatherings
- Non-Profit (501-c3) - Any event for an active 501-c3 organization. You may be asked to provide verification of your 501-c3 status if it's not available at IRS.gov
- K-12 - Any event for a K-12 school at that school’s location. This includes but is not limited to school assemblies, class visits, school fundraisers, and pep rallies. This rate is only reserved for events on behalf of the school.
- Ohio State Sports Properties Learfield - Any appearance on behalf of our Ohio State Sports Properties partners. This event type should only be selected if your Learfield contact instructs you to input a request.
- Suite Visit - Football / Basketball - Any appearance request to the Huntington Club, Net Jets Landing, or University Suites at our Ohio State Football or Basketball games. These visits are typically 5 minutes and carry different rates depending on the entity requested.
Additional Information
- Completion of a request form does not confirm that the request can be fulfilled.
- If you choose to request Spirit, please indicate in the Event Description field of the request form, which team you are requesting for this event.
- Our standard duration at an appearance is 30 minutes. This is considered to be the optimum amount of time that our student athletes are needed to deliver the value they bring to an event.
- You can request, them for more than 30 minutes on the request form. To do this, you will need to select the "Other - Time not listed" option on the request form. That will open up a field for you to specify what time you would like for the team to be at your event.
- Any request for more than 30 minutes will require a specific programming need and approval from the Spirit Program Operations Coordinator. Please ensure you specify what that need is using the Event Description field on the form.
- To avoid conflict with existing University contracts and commitments, the requesting party (“Party”) shall take all necessary steps to ensure that neither the Spirit Program/Brutus nor the University appear to directly support, endorse, or sponsor the Party or any of its direct sponsors, nor any advertising adjacent to the Party, in any medium, without first obtaining the prior written consent of University’s Office of Trademark & Licensing Services. Similarly, the Spirit Program/Brutus shall not permit the Party’s sponsors to suggest, in any medium, direct support or sponsorship by University of the Party or sponsors and/or sponsor’s products and/or services without first obtaining the prior written consent of University’s Office of Trademark & Licensing Services.
Request Process
- Read through each of the sections on this page
- Ensure you have confirmed the following appearance details for your event:
- Event Date
- Event Time
- Event Location
- Team you would like attending your event
- Complete and submit the Spirit Program Appearance Request Form (Button below) a minimum of three (3) weeks prior to your event date.
- Any appearance request received less than 3 weeks prior to your event date may be subject to a rush processing fee of $50
- Check for your email for a message entitled Ohio State University Spirit Request Confirmation. This email confirms that we have received your request and provides details on what you requested and when you can expect to hear back from us.
- Completion of a request does not mean that the request can be fulfilled
Request Response Expectations
- The performers you are requesting are student-athletes at The Ohio State University. They carry a full-time academic course load along with practices and athletic performances which will lead to some constraints on their availability. Although we will do our best to accommodate as many appearance requests as possible, not all requests can be fulfilled regardless of when you submit your request.
- Requests are processed on a rolling basis first come, first serve.
- Depending on when your appearance is, your appearance will be processed as follows:
- If the appearance is for a date that falls in this current month, you can expect to receive an answer regarding availability by early next week (typically Monday or Tuesday at the latest)
- Ex. If today is 9/1/2024 and your request is 9/30/2024, you will receive confirmation of availability by Monday or Tuesday the week of 9/9/2024
- If the appearance is for a date that falls in this current month, you can expect to receive an answer regarding availability by early next week (typically Monday or Tuesday at the latest)
- If the appearance is for a date that is not this current month, you will receive an answer regarding availability by the middle of the month prior to your event date.
- Ex. If today is 9/1/2024 and your request is 11/10/2025, you will receive confirmation of availability by the middle of October 2025
- Any request received less than three (3) weeks prior to your event may not be granted.
- If we can process a request with less than (3) weeks' notice, it may be subject to a rush processing fee of $50.
- If your request is accepted, you must pay the invoiced fee by the deadline listed in the confirmation email.
- IMPORTANT: Any adjustment to appearance details (time change, location, date, etc.) WILL require a forfeiture of your original request and a re-submission and re-processing of your request form.
Appearance Expectations from the Spirit Program
- Brutus - When selecting Brutus for your event, you can expect the ultimate hype man and entertainer. He is a fun-loving nut who is looking to bring joy, smiles and energy to the room. He does take special requests depending on what it is as long as it's been approved by the spirit program operations coordinator ahead of time. Typically, when Brutus comes to an event you can expect the following:
- Mingling and photos with guests
- Improving and enhancing the environment given
- Playing games and actively working the space he's in
- Spirit (Cheer and, or Dance) - When selecting the Spirit teams for your event, you can expect stellar student athletes who epitomize what it means to be a Buckeye. You have the option to request the following performance options:
- Networking / Mingling – With this option cheer and/or dance will go around the designated room to different tables or groups for light conversations and pictures
- Mingling and Performance – This includes the above along with cheer and/or dance doing a 1–2-minute performance of our spirit program cheers and dances to the approved songs and cheers described in the next section. Any requests outside of the items listed below cannot be accommodated without approval from the Spirit Program operations coordinator.
- If you choose to select Spirit at your event, please make sure you indicate in the Event Description field of the request form, whether you want the Networking / Mingling option or the Mingling and Performance option. If nothing is indicated, we will assume the Networking / Mingling option.
Approved Performance Cheers
- Let’s Go Bucks
- Hey Fan’s, OH – IO
- Here we Go Buckeyes
Approved Performance Songs - Provided by Spirit Program Operations Coordinator
- Ohio State Fight Song (Across the field)
- Hang on Sloopy
Additional Information
- We will not be able to accommodate requests for custom cheers or performances.
- A stage and or performance area will need to be made available for the team to perform.
- A sound system will need to be provided and access to that sound system allowing the music to be played from an iPhone / android device will need to be supplied
- Requests for additional actions will need to be evaluated and approved by coaching staff prior to the appearance.
- The student athletes will call you or the designated contact at least 15 minutes prior to the expected performance time to confirm any last-minute details.
- The student athletes will arrive dressed in their approved uniforms ready to go at the requested performance time.
- Student Athletes are not allowed to partake in the consumption of any alcoholic beverages at the event.
Appearance Expectations from You and Your Guests
- If your event is outdoors and there is inclement weather such as
- Lightning
- Extreme Heat / Cold
- Rain
- Tornados etc.
- You must provide an alternative space for the student athletes to perform in. If that is not possible, we reserve the right to cancel your appearance, and no refund will be provided.
- You are responsible for ensuring the environment our student athletes perform in is safe and appropriate. Under no circumstances should they be placed in a compromising situation by you and or your guests. This includes:
- Exposure to foul or inappropriate language
- Yelling at the student athletes
- Touching or grabbing the student athletes
- Trying to hit Brutus in the head
- Mobbing or ganging up on the student athletes.
- Offering of alcoholic beverages or illegal substances to the student athletes
- We ask that you provide a private room/area away from guests where the student athletes can safely store their belongings and take breaks when needed.
- If alcohol is being served while Brutus or any of our teams are at your event, team members must be stationed away from the area where it is being served. Please instruct your guests that no pictures / videos will be taken if they are holding alcohol in hand.
- If you or your guests are inappropriate in anyway, the student-athletes will leave immediately, and no refund will be provided. This includes tailgate and game-day appearances.
Appearance Frequently Asked Questions
- Are Brutus & the Spirit Program available for appearances on Gamedays?
- Yes, they are, however football appearance requests during home football gamedays must be on Ohio State Main Campus.
- Brutus will not be available during away football gamedays or during basketball games.
- Do I need to provide free / validated parking for the student athletes for an appearance?
- Yes. These are student athletes who carry a full academic course load on top of their athletic commitments. This leaves them little time for other commitments including a part time job. Ensuring their parking is free helps lift the financial burden that comes with the commitment
- If you can't validate parking, you can indicate that on the request form and an additional $15 will be added to your appearance fee to cover parking.
- Do the student athletes arrive dressed or do they need a place to change upon arrival?
- Student athletes arrive dressed and ready to go. We ask that you provide a safe and private location to store their belongings and take breaks when needed.
- Can I just rent the Brutus Costume and have someone dress in it?
- No. Only individuals within the Brutus Buckeye program have permission to wear the Brutus costume.
