Amerant Bank, the largest community bank headquartered in Florida, touts not only rich Latino origins but is also one of the biggest supporters of professional sports in South Florida. Amerant serves as the official bank of the Miami Heat and Miami Hurricanes. They are the hometown bank of the Miami Marlins with naming rights to the arena where the Florida Panthers play. That combination makes them the perfect partner for LiS: Latinos in Sports, a multi-tiered platform designed to showcase the positive contributions of Latinos in the business of sports.
Amerant Bank Facts
Amerant Bank is the largest community bank headquartered in Florida. They’re devoted forty-four years to leveraging the power of banking in order to create social and environmental value for their people, communities, and customers—Latinos, especially.
They have $9.7 billion in assets and twenty-four banking centers, with a total of 682 team members. Additionally, $2.29 billion in assets are under management/custody.
When Jerry Plush, chairman and CEO of Amerant since 2021, learned about the opportunity to join forces with the platform, he and his team jumped on it right away.
“In addition to having a significant book of business internationally on the deposit and investment management side, over 83 percent of our teammates are Hispanic,” Plush says. “That and our history of investing in the Latino communities we serve give insight into why we would support Latinos in Sports. It’s a natural connection for us, and it just made a lot of sense to get involved.”
That connection recently culminated in an event to kick off the F1 Miami Grand Prix weekend that brought together representatives from a myriad of leagues, brands, and teams—including NBA players Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Juan Toscano-Anderson, CNBC reporter Alex Sherman, and other industry leaders.
(Photo Courtesy of Amerant Bank)
As presenting sponsor, Amerant’s involvement reaffirms its commitment to the community it serves and speaks to the strides it’s made in spreading its reach, Plush says.
Latino in Sports Takeaways
The Hispanic sports marketplace totals at $21 billion.
What’s more? 40 percent of Latinos consider themselves “avid sports fans.” Another 92 percent view sports as important to their lives, with Latinos being two times as likely to attend a sporting event at least once a week. Latinos are five times more likely to share sports content on social media, too.
“Just a few years ago, we underwent a name change, and no one knew who we were,” says Plush, who was one of the F1 event speakers. “That’s why, at the F1 event, I was proud to see that the majority of attendants recognized Amerant and saw how deeply we care about Latinos in the sports industry. It was a great group of people who were enthusiastic, and I got to talk about my passion for the community and sports, which is a natural extension of our strategy.”
Amerant has also taken other moves to continue supporting Latinos. They recently hired a Latino-owned marketing agency to assist with Hispanic outreach initiatives, supported several sellout comedies shows of Saturday Night Live cast member Marcello Hernandez, and launched a sports and entertainment division headed by a Hispanic leader that forms partnerships to advance company goals.
(Photo Courtesy of Amerant Bank)
Moving forward, Plush looks forward to continuing these efforts and to expanding Amerant’s partnership with LiS: Latinos in Sports.
“We’re excited about the things we’re doing, which we think are very meaningful for an organization our size,” Plush says. “It shows that someone who’s local, passionate about being here, working here and living here can make a difference in the community. People can feel Amerant’s involvement, and it really resonates.”