NFL’s Steelers Tap Priority Commerce to Overhaul Treasury Operations

The Pittsburgh Steelers entered a multiyear partnership with Priority Commerce to modernize the NFL franchise’s ticketing payments and financial infrastructure, according to a Tuesday (July 14) press release.

Under the agreement, Priority Commerce will provide ticketing payment processing and deploy its Passport treasury orchestration solution, the release said. The move is designed to streamline the team’s back-office operations.

The deal focuses on optimizing payment costs and providing the franchise with more granular oversight of daily transaction and interchange activity. By integrating the Passport platform, the Steelers aim to improve visibility into cash flow and broader treasury operations, according to the release.

Doug Stuver, vice president of finance for the Steelers, said in the release that the organization selected Priority Commerce because of the platform’s ability to deliver greater operational visibility and technical service.

The partnership reflects a growing trend of professional sports franchises treating payments as a strategic driver of performance rather than a mere utility, per the release. Priority Commerce CEO Tom Priore said venues and teams are increasingly seeking integrated technology to improve financial efficiency as they modernize their operations.

Beyond the technical implementation, the deal includes marketing rights for Priority Commerce, such as in-stadium branding and participation in the team’s business events, the release said.

The Steelers’ adoption of Priority Commerce’s treasury tools coincides with the FinTech firm’s broader push to integrate sophisticated financial services directly into its merchant workflows.

Priority Commerce partnered with LendingFront in June to embed business financing within its MX Merchant platform, allowing users to access capital without leaving their primary payment interface. The integration uses existing business performance data to surface financing offers, a move Jaredd Galloway, Priority’s vice president of acquiring optimization, described as an effort to bring payments, insights and financing into a single ecosystem.

As the B2B embedded finance market is projected to reach $15.6 trillion by 2030, such consolidations are increasingly viewed as essential for merchants managing cash flow against macroeconomic challenges like inflation.